Patna, March 7: The Fair Price Dealers’ Association today alleged that people living below poverty line (BPL) and Antyodaya card holders were being forced to purchase sugar at an exorbitant rate of Rs 30-35 per kg from open market because of non-lifting of levy sugar by the state food corporation.

Addressing a news meet, the association’s general secretary, Srikant Labh, said: “The state’s food corporation is supposed to lift levy sugar for their distribution among BPL families and those holding Antyodaya cards through the public distribution system (PDS). However, the officials of the state’s food and consumer protection department, Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation and mill owners have deprived them of availing sugar at a subsidised rate of Rs 13.50 per kg during Holi.”

“According to the norms, if levy sugar is not lifted within a particular time, the mills are free to sell sugar in the open market,” Labh said, alleging that this was why the officials had connived with the mill owners.

“The sale of levy sugar in the open market has added about Rs 4,550 crore to the mill owners’ profit,” he said.

Other members of the association — Nand Lal Sao, Shiv Kumar Gupta, Dashrath Paswan and its media in-charge Manoj Kumar — were also present on the occasion.

“Similarly, public distribution shop owners of the Patna region have deposited a sum of Rs 9 crore with the state food corporation for lifting 1.5 lakh quintal of foodgrain for four months — September to December — in 2011,” the general secretary said, adding that the state food corporation has allegedly not released the grains even though it had lifted the same from Food Corporation of India (FCI).

“There is a huge racket involved in this. We demand a CBI probe into the alleged non-lifting of levy sugar and non-supply of foodgrain to the public distribution system shop owners,” he said, pointing out that the government should announce a CBI probe during the ongoing session of the Assembly.

Labh alleged that the NDA government in the state “talks about “zero tolerance” in terms of corruption in society but has not done much to stem graft”. He said members of the association would stage a sit-in in the state capital to press for their demands if the government did not initiate a CBI probe.