Following reports of alleged bogus paddy procurement last season and fresh wheat arrivals from Uttar Pradesh being procured in Karnal’s grain markets, a retired agricultural scientist has urged the government to recover funds allegedly embezzled by arhtiyas, millers, officials and others.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Dr Virender Lather of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, highlighted how this network allegedly orchestrated a ghost paddy procurement scam during the Kharif season 2025 and now in wheat procurement season.
Citing the data, he said that there was a procurement of 62.13lakh metric tonnes during last Kharif season against the Union Government’s target of 36 lakh MT, despite Haryana’s total non‑basmati paddy production being only about 48 lakh MT. He pointed out that actual procurement in the previous season (2024‑25) stood at 53.99 lakh MT in Haryana, highlighting the scale of irregularities.
He suspects that this additional procurement beyond Central Government targets was facilitated through fake billing. “The data shows we are procuring more than the realised production. I suspect gross irregularities during procurement. There is a need to check such practices to ensure transparency and build trust in the procurement system among the farming community,” he wrote in his letter.
Dr Lather stressed that embezzlement of Central Government funds in paddy procurement is a criminal act committed by a nexus of arhtiyas, rice millers, officials of market committees, procurement agencies and others, adding that such incidents have surfaced in large numbers across the state in recent years.
Similarly, he flagged wheat procurement figures. Around 84.46 lakh metric tonnes of wheat had reached Haryana’s grain markets by May 11 despite adverse weather conditions in March–April, compared to 70.34 lakh MT procured in 2024‑25. “How has an additional 14 lakh MT of wheat been purchased despite adverse climatic conditions?” he questioned.
He also raised concerns that despite stringent rules introduced this season — including mandatory farmer registration on the Meri Fasal Mera Byora (MFMB) portal, photographs of farmers with tractor‑trolleys bearing registration numbers for gate passes, Aadhaar‑based biometric verification, and geo‑fencing of mandis and godowns for real‑time monitoring — irregular procurement still occurred.
“Huge quantities of wheat were procured at low prices from Uttar Pradesh and shown as procured at MSP in Karnal’s grain markets by some arhtiyas, after manipulating the gap between maximum permissible yield on the MFMB portal and the actual yield of registered farmers to claim MSP benefits,” he alleged.
In Karnal alone, six FIRs had been registered, and more than 40 rice millers, arhtiyas, officials of the marketing board, and procurement agencies had either been arrested or are under investigation in the alleged paddy procurement scam during Kharif 2025‑26.
In the current Rabi season, three FIRs have been registered against seven farmers — two FIRs against six farmers for procuring wheat from Uttar Pradesh in Karnal, Indri grain markets, and Biana sub‑yard, and one FIR for mixing bricks in wheat bags scheduled for government delivery.
