Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi govt ministers made money from transfers of officials, alleges BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state chief Chandrakant Patil on Thursday alleged that the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s ministers had received kickbacks in transfers of officials. Patil has called for a criminal investigation department (CID) inquiry into the matter.

“MVA ministers have opened up a market of sorts for plump postings to favoured officials. There is a huge turnover in these transfers and it also comes at a cost to genuine officials, who may not have political affiliations. All this needs to be investigated by the CID,’’ said Patil.

Patil, a former state minister, also added that the general administration department (GAD) led by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had lifted the moratorium on transfers laid down by the finance department, headed by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on May 4.

The moratorium was laid down owing to the Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdown to maintain continuity in the implementation of measures to tackle the pandemic. The finance department had in May issued a government order stating that no officer should be transferred this year to ensure continuity in the implementation of Covid-19 measures across departments. It was stated that GAD would come out with a specific order on transfers.

Patil said that GAD issued a government order on July 7, allowing 15% of the transfers of the total posts to be carried out by July 31, which was later extended to August 10.

He also said that the transfers had caused inconvenience and hardship to officials amid the pandemic.

The state BJP chief, however, did not offer any concrete details or evidence about such kickbacks. He also did not level a charge against any specific minister.

The ruling parties have refuted the allegation. Water resources minister Jayant Patil said that such “loose allegations” are not be taken seriously”. In a jibe to state BJP chief, Patil said, “If we set up an inquiry, we will start [the probe] with all transfers carried out by the BJP government in the past five years.’’