Irrigation Scam of 70,000 Crores in Maharashtra
Two state departments - irrigation and public works - now facing serious charges of corruption have long been resisting the appointment of IAS officers as their administrative heads.
While the irrigation department is currently helmed by Nationalist Congress Party's Sunil Tatkare, who is facing an Anti-Corruption Bureau probe for amassing assets disproportionate to his income, the public works department is led by his party colleague Chhagan Bhujbal, who has faced embarrassing questions about irregularities in the reconstruction of the Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi.
The irrigation department till 2009 was controlled by Ajit Pawar, who resigned earlier this week as deputy chief minister following allegations that cost escalations in construction of dams had robbed the state of close to Rs 35,000 crore.
In December last year, the then chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad had proposed that both irrigation and PWD, just like any other department, must be headed by an IAS officer for better administrative oversight. The file went to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and he marked it 'Please speak' and sent it back to Gaikwad.
However, when the proposal discussed at a post-Cabinet briefing in January this year it met with stiff resistance from Tatkare, Bhujbal and Pawar, who was then the deputy chief minister. The proposal was never considered again.
Speaking exclusively to Mumbai Mirror on Thursday evening, Gaikwad confirmed he had moved the proposal to install IAS officers in irrigation and public works department. "The proposal met with opposition from certain ministers and was then put in cold storage," he said.
On Thursday evening, all attempts to contact Tatkare and Pawar were futile, and Bhujbal said he did not remember anything about any proposal to appoint an IAS officer as the administrative head of public works department.
Irrigation and PWD are the only two departments, apart from law and judiciary, where non-IAS officers rise through the ranks to the top slot of secretaries. While the logic behind having a non-IAS head law and judiciary is that the department requires somebody who knows his law, this clearly does not apply to irrigation and PWD.
The irrigation department has eight posts of secretaries. Two of them are posted in Mantralaya - one as principal secretary (irrigation) the supreme boss, and the other as secretary, command area development. There are six more posts of executive directors of various irrigation corporations and they have secretary rank. All these are engineers who have risen through the ranks.
The PWD has two secretaries - one for roads and another for buildings. Again, both are engineers.
Gaikwad's proposal did not seek to change this structure. It had only sought to appoint an IAS officer as the supreme boss in both departments. "The idea was to have independent oversight of the department. The political heads, obviously, did not want this," said an officer who did not wish to be identified. "The officers who start as engineers in irrigation or public works departments know they have to make their careers in these two departments. Hence they always toe the line. IAS officers have life beyond a particular department. In fact, they have a life beyond the state government. Hence, they tend to question more, probe deeper," he said.
No wonder then that no questions were raised in the irrigation department, when costs of building dams rose from a few hundred crores to a few thousand crores in a matter of days. Obviously, nobody had anything to gain by raising any questions and, of course, everything to lose.
‘Is this how partners behave?’
The Congress leaders have taken strong objection to effigies of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan being burnt by NCP activists, who blamed Chavan for the problems his former deputy Ajit Pawar finds himself in.
State Congress office-bearers and district unit chiefs met in the city to condemn the action of NCP workers.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Manikrao Thakre said he would convey the "strong sentiments" of Congress functionaries to his NCP counterpart Madhukar Pichad, who said he had already instructed party workers to stop protest rallies and demonstrations across the state.
The exit of Ajit Pawar from the government appeared certain, with NCP boss Sharad Pawar saying the issue of the deputy chief minister's resignation was "over" for the party.
Pawar said that after the party leadership gave Ajit the "permission" to step down after "due consideration", he handed over the resignation letter to Chavan.
Courtesy:
Yogesh Naik
Posted On Friday, September 28, 2012 at 04:31:01 AM
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2012092820120928043111501f4797882/How-ministers-kept-IAS-out-of-irrigation-and-PWD-depts.html.......................
While the irrigation department is currently helmed by Nationalist Congress Party's Sunil Tatkare, who is facing an Anti-Corruption Bureau probe for amassing assets disproportionate to his income, the public works department is led by his party colleague Chhagan Bhujbal, who has faced embarrassing questions about irregularities in the reconstruction of the Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi.
The irrigation department till 2009 was controlled by Ajit Pawar, who resigned earlier this week as deputy chief minister following allegations that cost escalations in construction of dams had robbed the state of close to Rs 35,000 crore.
In December last year, the then chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad had proposed that both irrigation and PWD, just like any other department, must be headed by an IAS officer for better administrative oversight. The file went to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and he marked it 'Please speak' and sent it back to Gaikwad.
However, when the proposal discussed at a post-Cabinet briefing in January this year it met with stiff resistance from Tatkare, Bhujbal and Pawar, who was then the deputy chief minister. The proposal was never considered again.
Speaking exclusively to Mumbai Mirror on Thursday evening, Gaikwad confirmed he had moved the proposal to install IAS officers in irrigation and public works department. "The proposal met with opposition from certain ministers and was then put in cold storage," he said.
On Thursday evening, all attempts to contact Tatkare and Pawar were futile, and Bhujbal said he did not remember anything about any proposal to appoint an IAS officer as the administrative head of public works department.
Irrigation and PWD are the only two departments, apart from law and judiciary, where non-IAS officers rise through the ranks to the top slot of secretaries. While the logic behind having a non-IAS head law and judiciary is that the department requires somebody who knows his law, this clearly does not apply to irrigation and PWD.
The irrigation department has eight posts of secretaries. Two of them are posted in Mantralaya - one as principal secretary (irrigation) the supreme boss, and the other as secretary, command area development. There are six more posts of executive directors of various irrigation corporations and they have secretary rank. All these are engineers who have risen through the ranks.
The PWD has two secretaries - one for roads and another for buildings. Again, both are engineers.
Gaikwad's proposal did not seek to change this structure. It had only sought to appoint an IAS officer as the supreme boss in both departments. "The idea was to have independent oversight of the department. The political heads, obviously, did not want this," said an officer who did not wish to be identified. "The officers who start as engineers in irrigation or public works departments know they have to make their careers in these two departments. Hence they always toe the line. IAS officers have life beyond a particular department. In fact, they have a life beyond the state government. Hence, they tend to question more, probe deeper," he said.
No wonder then that no questions were raised in the irrigation department, when costs of building dams rose from a few hundred crores to a few thousand crores in a matter of days. Obviously, nobody had anything to gain by raising any questions and, of course, everything to lose.
‘Is this how partners behave?’
The Congress leaders have taken strong objection to effigies of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan being burnt by NCP activists, who blamed Chavan for the problems his former deputy Ajit Pawar finds himself in.
State Congress office-bearers and district unit chiefs met in the city to condemn the action of NCP workers.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Manikrao Thakre said he would convey the "strong sentiments" of Congress functionaries to his NCP counterpart Madhukar Pichad, who said he had already instructed party workers to stop protest rallies and demonstrations across the state.
The exit of Ajit Pawar from the government appeared certain, with NCP boss Sharad Pawar saying the issue of the deputy chief minister's resignation was "over" for the party.
Pawar said that after the party leadership gave Ajit the "permission" to step down after "due consideration", he handed over the resignation letter to Chavan.
Courtesy:
Yogesh Naik
Posted On Friday, September 28, 2012 at 04:31:01 AM
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2012092820120928043111501f4797882/How-ministers-kept-IAS-out-of-irrigation-and-PWD-depts.html.......................
DEAR FRIENDS
ReplyDeletePRESENT GOVERNMENT AND THERE ALLIES ARE DOING NOTHING BUT WORKING ON A VERY SIMPLE METHOD U SCRATCH MY BACK I WILL SCRATCH YOURS IF WE SEE OUR HISTORY ONLY THOSE POLITICIANS GET CAUGHT WHO DONT SHARE - ONLY TWO TYPE OF INVESTIGATION CAN PUT A CHECK ON THERE MIS-ADVENTURES...
1] ALL THE RELATIVES AND NEAR ONCE OF THE POLITICIANS SHOULD BE PROPERLY SCRUTINIZED BY VARIOUS AUTHORITIES / AGENCIES AS HOW THEY GET RICH OVER NIGHT WHERE AS A COMMON MAN WHO IS MUCH MORE QUALIFIED STRUGGLES FOR WHOLE LIFE TO MAKE A DECENT LIVING ,,, THIS POLITICIANS WHEN ARE CAUGHT WITH UNACCOUNTED MONEY AND PROPERTY AND ASSETS WHICH DOES NOT MATCH THERE INCOME THEY SHOW IT LOANS FROM BUILDERS AND BUSINESS HOUSES. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND A COMMON MAN IF GOES TO ANY BUSINESS HOUSE OR BUILDER OR ANY TRUST HE DOES NOT GETS EVEN ONE RUPEE THEN WHATS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THIS POLITICIANS AND BABUS WHO GET CRORES OF RUPEES AS LOANS WHICH NEVER COMES TO LIGHT TILL THEY ARE CAUGHT LIKE IN THE CASE OF MR KRIPASHANKER SINGH OF CONGRESS A ROAD SIDE VEGETABLE VENDOR BECOMES MULTI- CRORE PATI IN JUST FEW YEARS ............ WHAT HAPPEN TO LALU PRASAD YADAV HE HAS BECOME MORE RESPECTFUL AFTER THE CHARA GHOTALA......
THE BEST WAY TO KEEP THINGS IN CHECK IS IMMEDIATELY ARREST ALL THE OFFICERS / BABUS WHO SIGNED THE DOCUMENTS OF ANY SCAMS AND PUT THEM BEHIND BARS FOR MINIMUM 7 YEARS FOR WASTING THE VALUABLE FUNDS MEANT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PUBLIC / AND COUNTRY AT LARGE BCOS NO POLITICIANS CAN DO ANYTHING WITHOUT THE HELP OF THERE SUBORDINATES THEREFORE IF THIS FEAR IS INCULCATED IN THE LOWER RANKS AND THEY WILL NEVER HELP THE POLITICIAN TO ATTEMPT ANY MIS-ADVENTURES..
AND IF THE OFFICER IS FORCED TO DO ANYTHING WRONG AND HE REFUSES THEN WHAT WORST CAN A POLITICIAN DO ???? TRANSFER HIM TO OTHER DEPT OR OTHER PLACE THEN IN THAT CIRCUMSTANCES THE OFFICER SHOULD ASK FOR A WRITTEN CLARIFICATION FROM THE DEPT AS TO WHY HE IS BEEN TRANSFERRED AND BEFORE GOING HE SHOULD MAKE A NOTING ON THE FILE ACCORDINGLY WHY HE THINKS THERE IS SOME DISCRIPENCIES.