Kolkata, May 12 (PTI) West Bengal Food and Supplies Minister Ashok Kirtania on Tuesday warned of strict action against corruption in the department, asserting that he would neither indulge in graft nor allow anyone else to do so, echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s oft-repeated slogan ‘Na khaunga, na khane dunga’.
Kirtania, who was allocated the food and cooperation portfolios at the first cabinet meeting of the new BJP government on Monday, visited the food department headquarters for the first time on Tuesday, and said action would soon be initiated against those involved in irregularities during the previous regime.
“You give me one week’s time. Let me first act against those who indulged in corruption,” he told reporters.
Claiming that both the PM and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had entrusted him with the department because of their faith in him, Kirtania said, “This is the department where there had been extensive corruption. I have been given this responsibility because the leadership trusts me.” The food department had come under intense scrutiny during the previous Mamata Banerjee-led TMC regime over alleged irregularities in the public distribution system and ration distribution.
Former food minister Jyotipriya Mallick was arrested in connection with the alleged ration distribution scam.
Describing himself as “a man of the soil”, Kirtania said he had never allowed “mud to stain” him in public life, and vowed to ensure transparency in the rationing system.
“I will not allow any corruption in ration distribution. There may be some problems during May, but from June, people will get superior quality foodgrains and other commodities,” he asserted. PTI PNT RBT
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