DNA EXCLUSIVE: BJP minister 'milking' dairy dept's fund

Looks like the state's minister for marketing, Subhash Deshmukh, is busy marketing his own concerns with allegations that he was helped to Rs 12 crore from the government's kitty for a milk cooperative he controls.

Maharashtra Dairy and Fisheries Minister Mahadeo Jankar sanctioned a subsidy of Rs 12 crore for a Rs 24-crore expansion project for Lokmangal Multistate Milk Cooperative Society based in Solapur. DNA has a copy of the government notification that allotted the fund to the cooperative run by Deshmukh, who is the Marketing and Cooperative Minister in the Fadnavis regime.

A proposal submitted by Lokmangal to the Dairy Department mentioned that Rs 4.12 crore would be spent on building a plant, Rs 14.75 crore on setting up a milk powder plant, while Rs 1.26 crore will go into consultancy fees.

Of the Rs 24 crore, Lokmangal was to spend Rs 12 crore, while the state was to bear the remaining expenses of Rs 12 crore.

The milk processing units run by the cooperative proposed to expand the capacity of its milk powder procession plant from 50,000 litres to one lakh litres.

The notification stated, "the government received the proposal under the National Agriculture Development Scheme and subsequently sanctioned Rs 12 crore, out of the total project cost of Rs 24 crore. As the first installment, Rs 2 crore has been released and the remaining fund will be paid as the work progresses."

Opposition called it nothing but absolute misuse and abuse of power by BJP ministers. "How can the honest tax payer's money be used for ministers' firms? This is gross misuse of power. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should sack both minister Mr Deshmukh and Jankar for misusing the power and initiate a high-level probe," said NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik.

Malik said it surprised him that Deshmukh showed Rs 1.26 crore as consultancy fees for this milk processing products. "This entire project proposal looks bogus. It was submitted to divert government funds. I'm sure the share that went to the minister's cooperative will be negligible; he will use that fund to set up his own factory. Such corruption is taking place when unemployed youth are running from pillar to post for government fund to start their own venture," Malik noted.