DNA: Mumbai: Tuesday, February 23, 2016.
Eight
'outside' appointees, or officers on special duty (OSDs), at the Chief
Minister's Office (CMO) cost the state government Rs 7.69 lakh in the month of
December. The amount was paid to them as salaries and other lump-sum
remunerations.
This
information came to light on Monday thanks to RTI applicant Anil Galgali.
Galgali, in his RTI application, had sought information about the names,
designations, educational qualifications and salaries of those in the CMO at
present and those appointed during the tenure of former chief minister
Prithviraj Chavan.
While the
information was not provided by the public information officer, during the
first appeal, Galgali was informed that information could be provided only for
December and January, since that was readily available, unlike the information
he sought from November 2014 onwards. With respect to the former CM's tenure,
the information stated that no outside person was present.
Galgali
sought information about December till the time that information about January
and other months are given. Barring two of the eight OSDs in question, each of
them received a monthly salary of over Rs1 lakh, he said.
"I filed
an application when I got to know that people from outside were appointed (in
the CMO). Normally, a government does not take people from outside and it never
used to happen before. The government should now conduct valuation of their
work," Galgali said. When dna contacted chief minister Devendra Fadnavis,
he replied via SMS, "Will send you comprehensive response (sic)."
The CMO's
public relations section sent an elaborate press statement defending the eight
appointments. "To state that this is the first time that private persons
were appointed will be based on incomplete information. In the state, before
the new cabinet was formed, a lot of people were in the CMO and the offices of
the deputy chief minister and other ministers. Around 19 such people were
appointed before this, the former deputy chief minister's advisor, Sunil Musle,
for example," the statement read.
Providing a
list of names, the statement added that back then, none of those appointed were
government officers. Defending the current appointments, the statement said,
"The people appointed have immense experience in the field they are from.
Two are from the media, where they have 22 years of experience, and, similarly,
there are those with experience in the establishment... All these people have
made different types of contribution, all of which are important, and all have
been monitored by the chief minister himself. They have looked after the
implementation of various initiatives like Aaple Sarkar and the Right to
Services Act... Their work during the Make In India Week was also
appreciated."
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