Union minister Bhagirath Choudhary is in focus over reportedly having received ₹99.6 lakh in subsidy from his own ministry. On Saturday, he sought to clarify and said he was not hiding anything and that he received the government aid like thousands of other farmers.
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Choudhary, a Minister of State in the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, is in the middle of a row after a report in The Indian Express revealed that he received ₹99,60,000 as subsidy through a scheme under his own ministry.
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Interestingly, the report claimed that the subsidy amount to promote commercial farming was approved by a board in which Choudhary is ex-officio Vice-President.
Clarifying on the farm subsidy, Bhagirath Choudhary he has practiced farming since his childhood and applied for the subsidy in 2018. Choudhary, a Lok Sabha MP from the Ajmer constituency, was sworn in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet in June 2024.
“I am a farmer and have been in agriculture since my childhood days. I have not hidden anything. Thousands of farmers install polyhouses and avail themselves of subsidies, so I did too. I had applied in 2018. I have installed a board there and mentioned all the loans and subsidies I took,” Choudhary said.
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“I also train farmers there in new techniques and natural farming. All local officials have visited the spot. So, what did I hide?” he added.
Oppn attacks minister over ‘conflict of interest’
The Congress attacked the minister, calling it a “conflict of interest” and accused the BJP of hypocrisy regarding corruption.
Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged that Choudhary was “the applicant, the sanctioning authority, and the beneficiary–all rolled into one.” Calling it a conflict of interest would be an understatement, he said.
Calling the move a “blatant loot”, the minister said, “It’s troubling because the poor are expected to be grateful for 5 kg of free ration and a modest midday meal for their children, as though these are the government’s favours rather than citizen’s rights. Meanwhile, ministers and their kith and kin have the state treasury at their disposal – cornering subsidies, drawing benefits and treating public funds as their father’s estate.”
Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot also attacked the BJP, calling it a “new model of corruption” and conflict of interest in the NDA government.
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“Yet another major instance of a new model of corruption and ‘conflict of interest’ under the Modi government has come to light, involving allegations against a Union Minister and an IAS officer serving in the central government,” Gehlot said.
The Indian Express report said that part from the minister, the mother, wife and son of a senior IAS officer were also among the beneficiaries of the scheme under the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
The report said 1994-batch Rajasthan IAS officer Naresh Pal Gangwar, a Secretary in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, and his family members received a total of over ₹1.16 crore in subsidies across five years under the scheme.
