CIDCO directors appointed by Cong-NCP govt get the boot

The non-official members appointed to CIDCO's board of directors by the erstwhile Congress-NCP regime have become the first casualty of the BJP government's decision to kick out all of its predecessor's appointees from state-governed officials.

mid-day's report on November 19

With an order dated November 25, the state has cancelled the appointment of CIDCO chairman Pramod Hindurao, who was heading one of the most influential and cash-heavy bodies in the state. Hindurao is known to be close to NCP leader and former deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar.

Along with him, other non-official directors such as Namdeo Bhagat, Vasant Bhoir and R C Gharat have also been shown the door. All three of them are from the Congress camp. Gharat was appointed a few days before the announcement of the state assembly election schedule.

The decision taken by the state urban development department, which controls CIDCO's affairs, is based on the directives given by the state cabinet during its meeting of November 18. It had been decided that all the appointments made by the previous establishment be cancelled immediately. This paper had reported on the matter on November 19 (‘State on a sacking spree').

A senior official from Mantralaya said the process to cancel the appointments was on and was being done as per the legal provisions. "A few appointments effected by the Congress-NCP government have, however, specific tenures and cancelling these without procedure may invite legal issues," he said.