'Have proof of corruption in farm debt waiver scheme'

Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare on Sunday claimed to have sufficient proofs of alleged irregularities committed in the farmers' loan waiver scheme of the Centre which was brought out by a Comptroller and Auditor General report recently.

"If the state government is interested in going through the proofs, I am willing to hand them over to them," Hazare told reporters in Nagpur but did not elaborate about the proofs available with him.

Earlier this month, expressing serious concern over the implementation of Rs 52,000-crore farm debt waiver scheme, government auditor CAG had said in several cases ineligible farmers were given benefit while deserving ones were left out.

CAG had also found instances of tampering of records and pulled up the Department of Financial Services in the Finance Ministry for deficient monitoring of the multi-crore scheme.

Hazare alleged that the drought situation in Maharashtra was man made rather than a natural calamity.

The social activist had yesterday also said that the combine of political apathy and corruption, coupled with unchecked exploitation of water resources, was responsible for parched conditions in the state.

"The drought situation is not natural but man-made as we have exploited our water resources to the maximum possible limits without employing scientific methods of water and soil conservation in many years and the result is for everyone to see," he had said.

To a question, Anna said that whether it is Rahul Gandhi or Narendra Modi, both cannot solve the national issues in the country.

He also questioned Modi's opposition to the appointment of Lokayukta in Gujarat.

The state government had opposed the Lokayukta's appointment and challenged it in Supreme Court, however, the apex court recently rejected the Modi government's case.