A web link, shared by the Indian state of Maharashtra’s agricultural department, was found to be redirecting users to the online game “Candy Crush Saga”.
The text message sent by the Maharashtra Agriculture Department to farmers on 18 January with a web link, was intended to explain the procedure for receiving a debt waiver under the state government scheme ‘Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Karj Mafi Yojana’ 2019, as reported by Times Now.
कर्जमुक्ती योजनेच्या माहितीचा संदेश फसवा pic.twitter.com/VE4W4d2kwo
— Timesnowmarathi (@timesnowmarathi) January 18, 2020
A state government probe into the matter pointed towards a deliberate attempt to temper with the link and derail the scheme.
According to sources, the Maharashtra government had ordered the suspension of a senior bureaucrat after the matter came to light and caused embarrassment to the department.
Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Karj Mafi Yojana, a scheme announced in December by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray promised to waive farmers’ loans up to Rs.200,000 ($2,806.68). With the loan amounts, which was supposed to be paid by the farmer, paid by the state government, under the scheme.
