By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION Commission was today (May 4) petitioned to investigate whether the Pheu Thai-initiated digital wallet project might be illegally implemented in overlapping fashion with an ongoing subsidy programme for some farmers.
Political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwatana filed the petition for the NACC to find out whether the digital wallet project could probably be provided for some 2.69 million farmers who may be simultaneously eligible to the government’s subsidy programme entitled the “Marketing-Led, Innovation-Aided Income Increases” which might practically overlap the 10,000-baht populist handout campaign.
The farmers subsidy programme, approved by the cabinet last September and calculated to cost some 12 billion baht, is being financed by the Bank for Agriculture & Agricultural Cooperatives (BACC) from which the government plans to “borrow” a sum of 172.3 billion baht to partly fund the digital wallet project, estimated to totally cost 500 billion baht, according to the petitioner.
The balance amounting to 175 billion baht and 152.7 billion baht will be provided with the government’s budget for the current fiscal year and next fiscal year respectively.
But the sought-after 172.3 billion baht fund from BAAC to partly finance the digital wallet project could probably overlap the 12 billion baht subsidy programme already designed to benefit the 2.69 million farmers who may be not only BAAC customers but recipients to the populist handout campaign simultaneously, Ruangkrai said.
The state-run BAAC’s 172.3 billion baht portion of the total 500 billion baht fund for the digital wallet project will only be granted to some 17.23 million farmers nationwide, according to Undersecretary for Finance Lavaron Sangsanit.
Ruangkrai said the 2.69 million farmers being entitled to the subsidy programme might eventually mingle among the total of 17.23 million farmers eligible to the digital wallet project.
NACC Secretary-General Niwatchai Kasemmongkol has earlier said the anti-graft agency will closely follow the likely purchase of pesticides and fertilisers by as many as 17.23 million farmers via their digital wallet to see if they might probably be compelled to buy certain brands of those products under a possible conspiracy for any traders to reap undue gains.
He insisted that the recipient farmers be free to buy anything of their choice under the government’s handout project.
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Top and Front Page: Representative images of digital wallet project. Photos: Thai Rath
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