AAP gets powerful boost as whistleblower of Rs 70,000 cr irrigation scam joins party

The honest bureaucrat and expert on irrigation, Vijay Pandhare had exposed exactly how the scam was perpetrated.

Nagpur News: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Maharashtra received a powerful boost and a shot in the arm when the Irrigation Officer and whistleblower of the 70,000 crore Irrigation Scam in Maharashtra Vijay Pandhare joined the party today in Nashik. He addressed a joint press conference with AAP leaders Anjali Damania and Sanjiv Sane to announce this decision at 1 pm on December 1 at Hotel Samrat in Nashik.

The AAP Maharashtra Convener Anjali Damania had blown the lid off the irrigation scam in which thousands of crores were spent on meaningless projects just to benefit crony capitalism. Government attempts to sweep the scam under the carpet were blown away when the honest and expert on irrigation, Vijay Pandhare exposed exactly how the scam was perpetrated. A bureaucrat himself, he was undeterred by the thought of repercussions from his political bosses and set a sterling example before the nation.
Saturday was his last day in service and today he has decided to enter the cesspool of politics to clean the muck that has ruined the country. Under his leadership AAP will pursue the perpetrators of the irrigation scam and strive to get every rupee back.

“We also welcome all bureaucrats who have tried their best to serve the nation despite the stranglehold of corrupt politicians, to take this fight to the public – to join AAP, contest elections and bring about the political revolution that is so critical to change the system,” the party Convener Anjali Damania said.
Courtesy:
Published On: Mon, Dec 2nd, 2013
News Today | By Nagpur Today
http://www.nagpurtoday.in/aap-gets-powerful-boost-as-whistleblower-of-rs-70000-cr-irrigation-scam-joins-party/

How ministers kept IAS out of irrigation and PWD depts

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.......................