Opposition leaders on Saturday questioned Union minister of state Bhagirath Choudhary in connection with a report that he availed a Rs 99-lakh commercial farming subsidy through a scheme under his own ministry.
Choudhary, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, received a subsidy of Rs 99.6 lakh under a scheme to promote commercial farming at a large scale under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, The Indian Express reported on Saturday. The mission is run by the National Horticulture Board, an autonomous organisation under the agriculture ministry.
Choudhary’s project for cultivating cucumber over 16,592 square metres was one of 467 projects that were approved by the National Horticulture Board under the scheme in 2025, according to the newspaper. The scheme offers a maximum subsidy of 50%, capped at Rs 1 crore per family.
The National Horticulture Board is managed by a board of directors with the Union agriculture minister as the ex-officio president, and the minister of state for agriculture as the ex-officio vice-president.
The minister of state officially does not have any direct role in clearing projects for subsidies under the scheme, The Indian Express reported. The clearance is granted by a project approval committee of the National Horticulture Board, which does not include its president or vice-president.
However, Congress leader Pawan Khera, commenting on the report on Saturday, said that Choudhary’s actions amounted to “blatant loot” and said that calling them a conflict of interest would be an understatement.
“He is the applicant, the sanctioning authority, and the beneficiary – all rolled into one,” Khera said in a social media post.
Khera remarked that while the poor are “expected to be grateful for 5 kg of free ration and a modest midday meal for their children”, ministers and their kin “have the state treasury at their disposal – cornering subsidies, drawing benefits and treating public funds as their father’s estate”.
In a similar vein, Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas remarked that the Narendra Modi-led government appeared to have changed the Direct Benefit Scheme to “Direct Family Transfer”.
Commenting on the allegations, Choudhary said that he is a farmer and has been in agriculture since his childhood, ANI reported. He said that he availed a subsidy in the same way that thousands of farmers do when they build polyhouses, or polymer-covered structures meant to control factors such as temperature and ventilation.
“I have installed a board there and mentioned all the loans and subsidies I took,” the minister was quoted as saying by the news agency. “I also train farmers there in new techniques and natural farming...All local officials have visited the spot. So, what did I hide?”
Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.
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