Bhubaneswar, July 24: You’ve heard the term cash cow, but this one takes the moo.
A cow was insured for Rs 27 lakh and the government paid Rs 3.8 lakh as premium to an insurance firm in a scam that has led to the arrest of a senior manager of the company and an Orissa government official.
Fearing he too will be arrested, another employee has gone into hiding — all for a cow that doesn’t even exist.
“We have lodged a complaint with the insurance regulatory authority on how the insurance company cheated the poor and the government,” a senior vigilance official told The Telegraph.
Sources said the scam goes back to 2009-10 but came to light this year. By then, some enterprising officials had milked the central government-sponsored livestock insurance scheme of a few lakhs.
The Centre had introduced the scheme to promote the livestock sector in 2005-06 in 100 districts of the country. In the first phase, it was introduced in three Orissa districts — Puri, Sambalpur and Mayurbhanj.
Under the scheme, a farmer pays a certain amount to insure his cow. The state pays the same amount, which is reimbursed by the Centre. On behalf of the state, the Orissa Livestock Resources Development Society (OLRDS) was given the job of implementing the scheme.
To enrol, a farmer has to approach the veterinary surgeon in his area, which means the vet and insurance officials are both part of the process.
Vigilance officials and OLRDS sources said the maximum amount a cow could be insured for was Rs 15,000. However, in this particular case in Sambalpur, the cow that was insured existed only on paper. Those involved in the scam created a fictitious cow that was insured for Rs 27 lakh.
“A fake account was created against a cow. The details of the cow, including its colour and age, were mentioned in the documents. The insurance agent’s name also figured. The OLRDS also paid the insurance amount,” said an official.
After vigilance officials swung into action early this month, the insurance company returned the money to the OLRDS account. “Now we have to see how many such cases have actually taken place. We are almost certain that the scale is high,” said a vigilance source.
Sources said that by creating the forged account, the insurance officials involved in the racket showed good business for the company while the agent earned a good commission. “The officials gained both ways,” said an investigator.
Sanat Mishra, the CEO of the livestock development society, confirmed that one employee was absconding. “Each year, we get between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 40 lakh for insuring at least 30,000 cows. We are taking steps to ensure that no corruption takes place in the future,” he said.
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