Uttarakhand officials deny alleged scam in animal husbandry department

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], January 14 (ANI): The BJP MP Maneka Gandhi has been 'misguided', said the Secretary for Animal Husbandry in Uttarakhand Government Meenakshi Sundaram on Thursday while rejecting the allegations of Rs 3000 crore scam in the Uttarakhand Sheep and Wool Development Board.

"It seems BJP MP Maneka Gandhi has been misguided since she isn't fully aware of Uttarakhand Animal Husbandry and state's Sheep Wool Development Board," RM Sundaram, Secretariat, Animal Husbandry Department, Uttarakhand on Gandhi alleging irregularities in Uttarakhand Sheep and Wool Development Board

Speaking to ANI, Sundaram said, “There is no such project under the World Bank with a budget of Rs 3000 crores in Uttarakhand Sheep and Wool development board.”

“A project under the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) is in progress. The budget of the same is Rs 169 crore of which Rs 25 crore has been released in the first year. Only Rs 7 crore has been spent till now,” he added.

“The budget for the feed procurement, which is Rs 20 lakh, has also been mentioned in the letter by Maneka Gandhi. A committee regarding that has been formed by the Chief Secretary on the order of Chief Minister headed by Additional Chief Secretary,” Sundaram said.

He further said that the committee will submit its report in 15-days and if any lapses are found then the person concerned would be enquired.

“When facts will be kept before her, she herself will realise that she has been misguided,” he added.

The Former union minister and BJP MP Maneka Gandhi had written a letter to Uttarakhand Chief Minister dated January 5 accusing officials of the state of a Rs 3000 crore scam.

“The state is producing wool under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme. Earlier, the textile industry was fully dependent on Australia for its wool import,” Sundaram said adding that Uttarakhand can provide 50 percent of the wool to the textile industry of Ludhiana, which is dependent upon Australia which is an important step towards ‘Aatmanirbharta’.(ANI)