The Centre informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that Union Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Bhagirath Choudhary refunded the Rs 99 lakh subsidy he got for his cucumber farm through a scheme of his own ministry.
Ramnath Thakur, Choudhary’s colleague and Minister of State, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, highlighted that Choudhary has refunded the amount to the bank and that bank has been directed to transfer the amount to the NHB (National Horticulture Board).
What Did The Centre Tell Parliament?
Thakur, in a written response to a question by Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, said, “Shri Bhagirath Choudhary has communicated that he has refunded the subsidy to the bank concerned under the scheme. The concerned bank has been directed to return the subsidy amount to NHB (National Horticulture Board),” as quoted by The Indian Express.
Thakur also said that Lumbaram Choudhary, BJP MP from Jalore in Rajasthan, has received financial assistance under the National Horticulture Board schemes during the last five years.
What Is The Cucumber Controversy?
The National Horticulture Board, an autonomous organisation under the administrative control of Choudhary’s ministry, administers the scheme which promotes ‘commercial farming’ on a large scale for profit, the Indian Express reported. It covers vegetables and flowers and comes under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, which was launched in 2014-15.
Choudhary’s project for cucumber cultivation spread across 16,592 square metres. It was one of the 467 projects approved by the NHB in 2025 under the scheme, “Development of Commercial Horticulture through Production and Post-Harvest Management of Horticulture Crops”.
The Indian Express reported earlier that three family members of Naresh Pal Gangwar, a senior IAS officer and Animal Husbandry Secretary at the Centre, collectively claimed over Rs 1.16 crore in horticulture subsidies across five years.
Who is Bhagirath Choudhary, the Union Minister of State for Agriculture?
Choudhary began his term as Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare from June 9, 2024 after being elected to 18th Lok Sabha. He was earlier a member of Consultative Committee in the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
September 13, 2019 onwards, he became a member of the Standing Committee on Water Resources. Choudhary was elected to the 17th Lok Sabha in May, 2019.
He served two terms from 2003-2008 and 2013-2018 in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.
