Chhattisgarh: With allegations of corruption in procurement of rice for the Public Distribution System or PDS in Chhattisgarh, the state Congress today launched a padyatra from Baloda bazar, about 90 km from the state capital Raipur, to raise awareness over the scam and put pressure on the state government.
"How can the government do a fair probe when the names of relatives of the CM have surfaced? We want the government to order a CBI inquiry that's the only way to ensure that we get the truth" said Bhupesh Bhagel the Congress party state chief who today marched along with the supporters.
The state Anti Corruption Bureau had recovered several documents which contain balance sheets and details of alleged pay offs to several senior officers in the Chhattisgarh civil supplies corporation. The Congress has also alleged that relatives of Chief Minister Raman Singh have also been paid off, a charge which has been refuted both by Mr Singh and the state government.
Mr Singh, who was in Jashpur, has maintained that it was the police which had unearthed the scam and it would continue to impartially investigate the matter. He had also defended Chhattisgarh's PDS as "among the best in the country" adding that "some unscrupulous elements may try and take advantage but all those found guilty would be punished."
Echoing the Chief Minister, PWD minister Rajesh Munat today said that "the investigations were ongoing and the guilty would be punished"
The padyatra is expected to arrive in Raipur on March 16 when they plan to hold a massive protest outside the state assembly.