Mumbai:
Ajit Pawar resigned as deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra because of allegations that as the state's Water Resources Minister for ten years, he allowed thousands of crores to be spent and managed to increase the state's irrigation ability by just 0.1%. His unexpected move has ignited a political firestorm for the government in Maharashtra of Mr Pawar's party, the NCP, and the Congress led by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
The government says Rs 40,000 crore was spent while Mr Pawar was in charge; the opposition and RTI activists say the alleged swindle is worth Rs 72,000 crore. They fault Mr Pawar for hiring private firms at exorbitant costs to build canals and dams, changing rules to give himself huge control in deciding which firms would be hired, and allowing the costs of projects to multiply by several hundred times. As proof, they point out that in just three months in 2009, Mr Pawar signed off on an additional Rs 20,000 crore for 38 projects in Vidarbha.
As proof of their allegations against Mr Pawar, the opposition and activists point to a letter signed on August 15 in the same year that endorsed the new expenditure for a project first cleared in 1981 for Lower Wardha dam. An original budget of Rs 48 crore had been revised twice. On Independence Day in 2009, the letter in question green-lit a new budget of Rs 2,300 crore. The letter was signed by Devendra Shirke, then head of the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation, which was the nodal agency for all irrigation projects in Vidarbha; a signature, purportedly of Mr Pawar, added on a later date, is also on the note.
Activists ask why the government allowed the cost of the project to keep rising and why a government department approved more funds on a national holiday.
Mr Pawar has said that he does not like to keep decisions pending -a thinly-veiled reference to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who has been accused by Mr Pawar's party of being indecisive and holding up the implementation of essential infrastructure projects. His party has also said that inflation and modifications of original designs contributed to the increasing costs of projects, some of which were spread over decades.
THE CONTROVERSY OVER AUGUST 15 APPROVAL- Letter to approve increased cost of Lower Wardha Project at Arvi
- Letter sent on letter head of Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC)
- VIDC nodal agency for irrigation projects in Vidarbha
- Letter has signature of by Devendra Shirke, Executive Director, VIDC
- Letter signed by Shirke on 15th August 2009, a national holiday
- Letter sent to Ajit Pawar who was Water Resources Minister at the time
- Approval for project given in 1981
- Estimated cost: Rs 48 cr
- Cost revised to 444 cr in January 2000
- Cost revised 950 cr in August 2008
- Only 680 cr was spent until April 2009
- Cost further revised to 2360 cr