CAG report tabled in Maha assembly

PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal demand probe into its "leak"

PTI | April 17, 2012



Maharashtra Government today tabled the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, which allegedly indicts senior politicians from the state, in the Legislative Assembly amidst demand for a probe by PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal into its "leak".

Making a personal clarification after the report was tabled by deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Bhujbal described the leak as a "conspiracy to malign individuals" and sought a probe, saying excerpts of the report that found way into the media differ from the one seen by the Cabinet.

He also questioned the authority of the federal auditor to question government's policy decisions.

Bhujbal is learnt to have been indicted by the CAG in this report.

As per the leaked excerpts, a 91,300 square metre plot in Govardhan Taluka in Nashik district worth crores of rupees was allotted to the Mumbai Education Trust (MET) after changing the purpose of reservation from mining activity to educational purpose at occupancy price of a meagre Rs 9.08 lakh. The land was allegedly transferred to MET by the PWD, a department headed by Chhagan Bhujbal.

Bhujbal told the Assembly that the Mumbai Education Trust (MET) had applied for the land in Nashik in year 2000 when he was not the PWD minister.

"The land was allotted in 2003 by the revenue department as per government norms meant for land allotment for educational institutions," he said.

Since 1975, as many as 3,160 institutions have been allotted land for educational purpose and even late BJP leader Hashu Advani was assigned the land for his educational institution under the same norms, Bhujbal said.

Leader of Opposition Eknath Khadse objected to the clarification, saying it was not needed since no allegations were made against Bhujbal on the floor of House in this regard.

He said the opposition was yet to get a copy of the CAG report.

However, Speaker Dilip Walse Patil said any member or minister can give clarification on the basis of allegations levelled outside the House.

Meanwhile, noisy scenes were witnessed in the Assembly when Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat and Industries Minister Narayan Rane rose to make clarifications on the report.

Speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes and later for half an hour as the opposition objected to the clarifications given by the ministers.

Comments

 

Other News

`Focus on infra, reforms, digital connectivity has created strong foundation for growth`

In a step towards the operationalisation of the Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojana (BHAVYA), union minister of commerce & industry Piyush Goyal launched the BHAVYA Portal on Monday in New Delhi.   Addressing the gathering, Goyal said that the BHAVYA scheme will adopt a competit

Govt, RBI announce major reforms to attract FPI

The finance ministry on Friday announced a series of measures aimed at enhancing the ease of investment for individual Persons Resident Outside India (PROIs) and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), and to attract stable long-term foreign capital flows.   Building on the recent in

Lessons in climate adaption from world’s largest inhabited river island

Majuli Island, perched between the Brahmaputra River to the south and east, the Subansiri River to the west, and a branch of the Brahmaputra to the north, has been severely affected by recurrent flooding and intense riverbank erosion. Despite its global importance in acquiring UNESCO tentative status for

Careless whispers and the impossible trinity

Time can never mend, the careless whispers of …    As the RBI marches ahead, for the upcoming monetary policy meeting this June, whispers from the corridors echo around several policy options to defend the rupee – by deploying forex reserves, raising in

Bullet Train Project: Third mountain tunnel breakthrough achieved

A major engineering milestone has been achieved in the Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project with the successful breakthrough of the third mountain tunnel (MT-07) at Ambesari village in Dahanu Taluka of Palghar district, Maharashtra.   With this achievement, three mountain

Supreme Court gets five new judges

Five new judges were appointed to the Supreme Court of India on Monday. "Vide Notifications of even number dated 01.06.2026, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the Hon’ble President of India is pleased to appoint (i) Shri





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter