Mizoram: Investigation reveals Rs 4.5 crore ginger subsidy fraud
Aizawl: Mizoram Agriculture Minister P.C. Vanlalruata on Wednesday said a timely investigation had foiled a potential multi-crore embezzlement attempt linked to the state government’s ginger support price scheme.
Replying to questions in the State Assembly, the Minister said the probe was initiated by the Mizoram Agricultural Marketing Board (MAMB) in July last year after irregularities were detected in data uploaded to the government procurement portal. The inquiry found that several individuals had attempted to misuse the system by passing off ginger sourced from outside Mizoram as locally grown produce.
According to the Minister, the MAMB investigation team carried out four separate field operations, visiting multiple Secondary Collection Centres (SCCs) and nearby village clusters where ginger was being aggregated. “The team’s findings exposed a calculated attempt by greedy middlemen to register low-cost ginger procured from outside the state — particularly from Myanmar, on the government portal under the guise of local harvest,” he said.
Officials noticed a sudden and suspicious spike in portal entries which, if left unchecked, could have resulted in an inflated government payout of about Rs 4.5 crore. However, the fraudulent data was identified and corrected before any funds were released under the scheme.
Vanlalruata clarified that although funds had been transferred to the Aizawl Deputy Commissioner’s office, they had not yet been disbursed to the SCCs or to farmers. “Because the inquiry was launched immediately, we were able to prevent the misappropriation of public money. Since no funds were actually embezzled, no legal action has been taken against the suspects at this stage,” he said. He added that four SCCs had been identified as the primary locations where the attempted fraudulent transactions were concentrated.
The Minister further informed the House that the formal procurement of ginger from local farmers at designated SCCs began on February 2. The government has fixed the maximum support price at Rs 50 per kilogram. Unlike earlier models, the state has not empanelled specific buyers; instead, private traders have been allowed to purchase ginger at a government-determined floor price of Rs 30–35 per kg. Any shortfall between the floor price and the support price, he said, would be reimbursed to farmers through the support price mechanism.
Vanlalruata also noted that Rs 141.16 crore had been released to ginger growers as support price assistance during the 2024–25 financial year, while only Rs 12.78 crore had been realised from ginger sales so far.
Fulfilling its pre-poll commitments, the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) government led by Chief Minister Lalduhoma is currently extending the support price mechanism to five locally grown crops — ginger, turmeric, broomstick, chilli and paddy with the stated objective of ensuring assured returns to farmers and stabilising rural incomes.
