The Kao Klai Party, June 8- Kao Klai, questioned the Ministry of Agriculture's approval of the budget for organizing the Rice Day event. effectively

Mr. Khunphon Thiensuwan, deputy spokesperson for the Kao Klai Party Announcement in the case of procurement in the project "Technology transfer campaign Reduce the cost of agricultural production" on the occasion of the National Rice and Farmer Day 2023 of the Department of Rice that is inappropriate. by receiving complaints from civil servants within the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives that there was a rush until it was noticed And there are many irregularities, for example, according to the first project approval document on February 20, 2023, the National Rice Day Program of the Department of Rice It is planned to be held on June 1-7, 2023 at the Agricultural Museum Chaloem Phra Kiat, Khlong Nueng Subdistrict, Khlong Luang District, Pathum Thani Province, with a budget of 15 million baht. The goal is to have 25,000 participants. A budget plan that is elegantly named “Technology transfer creates awareness of rice production cost reduction among farmers”

Subsequently, on April 19, 2023, there was an incident that prevented the Department's plans from being as expected. Event plans must be changed. From the only large-scale event that uses a budget of 15 million baht, it has been reduced to 3 activities with a total budget of 7.5 million baht, divided into (1) activities at the Department of Rice, Bangkok, June 5-6, budget 3 million baht (2) Activities at the Rice Research Center, Phitsanulok Province, June 16-17, budget 1.5 million baht, (3) Activities at the Rice Research Center, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, June 23-24, budget 1.5 million baht, and (4) public relations budget 1.5 million baht.

“But as if the Department of Rice is afraid to spend too little money or not? On May 9, 2023, the Department of Rice asked for approval of an additional budget of 2 million baht, the amount increased to 5 million baht, claiming that it was because the event was extended by 1 day from 5. June 6th is June 5th-7th. The details of the increased expenses are quite unusual, for example, the cost of organizing exhibitions and displaying their works increased from 400,000 baht to 1,000,000 baht, expenses for honoring and displaying the works of farmers and institutions. Farmers, originally at 100,000 baht, increased to 500,000 baht, ”said Mr. Krunpol.

Mr. Khunphon said such questionable budgeting make civil servants in the Ministry of Agriculture Complain to the Kao Far Party I would like to ask questions to agencies and agency executives at this time, namely (1) Is hiring an organizer transparent or not? Since the contract signing period is May 29 and the event date is June 5, it is very close. And finding an organizer is questionable. Since the event is an annual event. Held every year at the same time Instead, it was an invitation to the organizer to bid. instead of bidding or e-bidding according to government regulations Despite having spent several months preparing for this event, in addition to that, there were 4 invitees, but only 1 bidder and was the one who had been working with the Department of Rice for a long time.

In addition, the use of public relations budget of 1.5 million baht is inefficient and cannot serve the purpose of disseminating activities within the event and educating farmers or people interested in agricultural innovation. Phitsanulok and Nakhon Ratchasima Still the original organizer There is a suspicion that the board will be dismantled and various structural equipment will be removed. from the event in Bangkok To use it or not, despite the provincial work receiving a separate budget of 1.5 million baht per province, which the Kao Klai Party had to go to the area to inspect on that day as well

Mr. Khunphon also showed the atmosphere of the event from the actual field visit. Found that it was in accordance with the real complaints, such as the entrance and the atmosphere inside the event was lonely. Obviously the number of attendees was unlikely to reach 10,000 as claimed. The resources of the Department were actually used to organize the event despite having a budget of 5 million baht to hire an organizer. Most of the participants are government agencies that come out with their own booths. And there is also evidence in the video clip that farmers were hired to attend the event in order to have images presented that match the objectives of the event.

The party's deputy spokesman said that in addition to submitting the matter to the review process. What I want to communicate to society and government agencies is The main event budget of 10 million baht may seem small. But I don't know how many other activities like this happen to government agencies, which in total are a lot of money that can be allocated to the new budget to benefit the development of the country's competitiveness.

“It's time for the new government and the Progressive Party to join hands with the people and civil servants in solving the problem. We believe that in various government agencies. There are civil servants who want to see transparent work. create maximum benefit for the people, so in the next government, in the next parliament We, the Progressive Party, will not tolerate improper use of the budget. No more benefit like this. It's time to cancel the inappropriate budget. It's time to use the budget efficiently to develop the country. And create a good quality of life for the people, ”said Mr. Krunpol.-Thai News Agency

Source: Thai News Agency