Times of India: Mumbai: Monday, November 26,
2018.
It came as a jolt to BJP cabinet members
and senior bureaucrats when the dairy development department nixed the Rs
25-crore expansion plan for Solapur-based Lokmangal Multistate Cooperative
Society's milk processing unit. Lokmangal was set up by cooperation minister
Subhash Deshmukh. After he was inducted into the state cabinet, he quit, and
handed over the reins to his son.
A year ago, local activist Appa Kore
invoked the RTI Act to secure information on permissions obtained by the
Lokmangal society. While the society had secured all permissions, Kore was
informed by the competent authorities they had not given any permission for
expansion of the plant.
Kore then approached Congress and NCP
leaders to demand action against the plant for seeking financial aid based on
forged documents, but no leader took serious note. Kore then approached the
dairy development commissioner and the Lokayukta.
Despite crucial evidence against firms
controlled by Deshmukh, no action has been taken. His illegally constructed
bungalow is yet to be demolished despite municipal commissioner Avinash
Dhakne's order. Hence, it was believed since no action was taken against
Deshmukh in the past, Kore's complaint too would meet with a similar fate.
Surprisingly, in the past two months,
there has been quick action on all fronts.
The dairy development commissioner
submitted his report on September 12, the Lokayukta gave directions on October
29 and the principal secretary (dairy development) heard the case on November
12 and passed an order, saying the firm should deposit Rs 5 crore in the
account of the National Agriculture Development Scheme and that its permission
for expansion of the plant has been withdrawn.
A bureaucrat said unexpectedly stringent
action has been taken against a firm controlled by Deshmukh.
Convenient way to deal with
'inconvenient' babus
Eyebrows have been raised in bureaucratic
circles over the frequent transfers of Nashik municipal commissioner Tukaram
Mundhe. In a career spanning over 13 years, Mundhe has been transferred 10
times.
Whether it was the Congress-NCP
government or the current BJP-led government, Mundhe has never been allowed to
complete his two-year tenure on any assignment.
Wherever he was posted, he took on local
politicians, who then knocked at the doors of successive chief ministers.
Instead of examining the issue in entirety, the CMs chose to oblige the
politicians.
Mundhe is not alone. In the past too,
inconvenient bureaucrats have been shunted out whenever they took on the ruling
party for administrative reasons.
According to the rule, an official should
not be disturbed for at least two years. A bureaucrat can be shifted only in
rare cases, but that too after submitting reasons for the transfer. But, the
law has been given a burial.
The department of tourism has seen four
secretaries in three years and an equal number of managing directors for the
crisis-ridden Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation. In the past three
years, neither the tourism department nor MTDC has taken up any new project.
A former chief secretary says the CM will
have to bring a new policy on posting and transfers where, besides a fixed
tenure, he will have to ensure everyone gets a chance to work in all the
departments.
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