Supplyco depot scam: Audit finds ₹32.9 lakh rice diversion, fake records

Thiruvananthapuram: An audit report by the Internal Inspection Wing of Supplyco has uncovered large-scale irregularities in several godowns operating under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). The report reveals that food grains worth ₹32.91 lakh were diverted from just three NFSA depots — with losses estimated at ₹4.42 lakh from Vadakara in Kozhikode, ₹18.49 lakh and ₹10.04 lakh from Valiyathura and Menamkulam in Thiruvananthapuram.

The audit identified six employees as responsible for the irregularities at the Vadakara depot, while three employees each were found guilty of irregularities at Valiyathura and Menamkulam.

Although the audit team recommended recovering the value of the diverted rice from those responsible, Supplyco authorities have yet to take action. Even though the irregularity at the Menamkulam godown was first reported in 2019, the financial liability has not been recovered from the concerned staff even after six years. Instead, authorities returned the audit report, citing a need for clarification on certain details.

Responding to an RTI query, Supplyco stated that chargesheets against the officials found guilty would be issued once the pending details were clarified, after which disciplinary action would follow.

The report further recommended recovering ₹15.40 lakh from two Junior Assistants who worked at the Valiyathura godown in 2021, ₹2.89 lakh from a salesman, and ₹18,491 from an Assistant Salesman.

The audit also detected significant stock shortages at the godown, including 20,867 kilograms of 'puzhukkalari' (parboiled rice), 19,813 kilograms of 'pachari' (raw rice), 856 kilograms of 'kuthar'i (brown rice), and 11,235 kilograms of wheat. The report noted that such large-scale irregularities could have been prevented if senior officials and godown supervisors had conducted timely inspections.

₹35 lakh fraud in purchase of packing covers for food kits
The audit also uncovered a separate ₹35 lakh fraud at the Valiyathura depot in the purchase of polypropylene packing covers used for free food kits. The fraud involved not unloading the full quantity of stock as per the invoice but recording in official documents that the entire shipment had been received.

Following the detection of this irregularity, the internal audit wing recommended that the loss of ₹34,95,376 be recovered from the Maveli store custodian.

The polypropylene covers were procured for packing green gram and tur dal in free food kits. Each 40-kilogram bag containing a bundle of covers cost ₹4,500. While the invoice showed a purchase of 3,922 PP bags, wage records of loading workers indicated that only 3,119 bags were actually unloaded into the godown.

A preliminary investigation by the Supplyco Vigilance had earlier detected a fraud of ₹13.5 lakh. Following this, the audit team conducted a detailed scrutiny of documents from April 2020 to May 2021.

Influx of ration rice from Tamil Nadu
Meanwhile, the state is witnessing a heavy inflow of ration rice from Tamil Nadu, with tonnes of food grains entering Kerala through border check-posts. A recent raid by the Civil Supplies Department’s squad intercepted a truckload of ration rice that had entered through the Aryankavu check-post in Kollam.

The rice, seized from a private firm in Aryankavu, included 174 sacks (8,042 kg) of refined puzhukkalari (parboiled rice), some with and others without the Food Corporation of India (FCI) tag. The consignment was found to have been transported without proper documentation.