N Uttam Kumar Reddy doubts credibility of panel on KCR award

Hyderabad: TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy again questioned the Agriculture Leadership Award announced for Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao by the Indian Council for Food and  Agriculture.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, he said Mr Rao had pushed the farming community into its most serious crisis. The failure to implement farm loan waiver and provide minimum support price and lack of proactive measures had led over 3,500 farmer suicides.

It was shocking that any worthwhile organisation would present an agriculture award to Mr Rao he said. He said that the award was being given by a letterhead organisation whose chief was affiliated with the BJP.

He played a video from August 19, 2013, wherein home minister Rajnath Singh was purportedly seen welcoming ICFA head M.J. Khan into the BJP.

Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with TPCC chief spokesperson Dr Dasoju Sravan, vice-president Dr Mallu Ravi and legislator A. Sampath Kumar made a presentation on the ICFA. He said the Registrar of Companies showed the IC-FA as a private organisation registered on June 5, 2015. How could it claim it was presenting awards from 2008, he asked.

He said ICFA is owned, controlled and funded by one Mr Khan, who had business interests in companies such as Con-cept Agrotech Consul-tants Limited and Bhagidhari Agrotech Private Limited, which are commercial organisations having business interests in agricultural and related activities. 

The ICFA has two other directors, Alok Sinha and Sunil Kumar, he said.

“While Sunil Kumar is the director in companies such as Azardica Foods Private Limited, N.V. Indian Agro Fresh Private Limited, and Synergy Technology Private Li-mited, Alok Sinha is a director in National Multi Commodity Exchange and Entegra.”

He said the RoC records indicated that Entegra Limited had debts exceeding '280 crore, “which do not appear to have been repaid.”