Political appointments made by the former alliance to MHADA, CIDCO, MTDC, MIDC, planning and education boards etc will be written off to make way for "suitable" candidates
Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, BJP government, replace, appointments, state bodies, Congress-NCP, government, Mumbai, MHADA, CIDCO, MTDC, MIDC
Ruffled by the “audacity” of an NCP man, the new state government led by the BJP has resolved to scrap all political appointments made to state-run bodies by its predecessor, the Congress-NCP regime, and replace them with its own.
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Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had issued a directive to this effect four days back
The decision, to be implemented as soon as can be, will make way for new chairmen and members to state authorities such as CIDCO and MHADA among a host of others.
Dilip Kamble, MoS for social justice, was rubbed the wrong way that an NCP man should question his decision to call a meeting without him. File pic
While CIDCO is currently headed by NCP’s Pramod Hindurao, the Mumbai board of MHADA is headed by Congressman Yusuf Abrahani, and the Mumbai Repair and Reconstruction Board is headed by NCP’s Prasad Lad.
According to a senior functionary of the BJP government, a lengthy discussion was held during the weekly meeting of the state cabinet yesterday, and the state administration was directed to scrap all the appointments made by the previous dispensation.
In fact, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had issued a directive to this effect around four days back, but the administration had failed to put out the orders immediately.
The issue figured again in Tuesday’s meeting, after Dilip Kamble, minister of state for social justice, narrated an incident that chafed him. According to him, an NCP appointee to a state-run corporation for the welfare of schedule castes rudely questioned him as to why he had not been invited for a review meeting.
“This baffled me as the concerned person, who heads the state body, had no business to question my decision to call the review meeting,” Kamble said. The person the minister was referring to is Ramesh Kadam, who heads the Annabhau Sathe development corporation for Matang Samaj.
After hearing of the episode, BJP ministers were taken aback, and upon recovering, hurriedly shot orders for redeployment. Sources said the secretaries of various state departments were immediately told to issue orders to scrap the appointments.
A BJP leader said the list of scrapped appointments will be forwarded to the party leadership, so the hunt may begin for “suitable” candidates. The persons cleared by the BJP will be recommended for the vacancies.
Incidentally, the erstwhile coalition regime could not make appointments to all the state bodies, barring some prominent ones, due to internal differences.
Up for a shuffle
There are at least 70-plus state-run corporations, boards and public enterprises where political persons or people close to political parties are appointed as chairman or non-official members. Other than Cidco and Mhada, other organisations where political appointees are set to lose their positions include:
>> state planning board, where NCP man Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar is the executive chairman;
>> state women’s commission, headed by Congress leader Susieben Shah;
>> Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal, headed by Congress leader Prabha Oza;
>> state road transport corporation, headed by NCP man Jeevan Gore;
>> and others.
Other state bodies where political appointments are made consist of: MTDC, MIDC, five state irrigation corporations, non-official members of the SSC and HSC boards, four corporations for the development of backward communities, fisheries development corporation, regional development boards, etc.
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