Oppn leader slams Shinde for favouritism in appointing non-IAS at imp positions

Leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar criticized CM Eknath Shinde for appointing non-IAS cadre officers to important positions, including those under probe by the ED. Wadettiwar mentioned the appointment of Dilip Dhole as joint MD of CIDCO, despite being questioned by the ED. He also criticized the appointment of Kailas Shinde as AMC BMC, accusing the government of demoralizing IAS officers.

Mumbai: Leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar has criticised chief minister Eknath Shinde for favouritism in appointing non-IAS cadre officers to important positions. He said that chief minister Eknath Shinde is demoralising bureaucrats by encouraging and promoting such officers and appointing them to important positions even when they are facing probes by the central investigation agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

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Wadettiwar was referring to Dilip Dhole who was recently appointed as joint managing director of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO). The appointment was made despite Dhole being recently questioned by ED in connection with a probe into money laundering charges related to alleged irregularities detected by the Thane police in November 2016.

“Dhole is a deputy commissioner rank official from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) department, which is equivalent to deputy collectors of the revenue department. Since he is close to the chief minister, he was appointed as joint MD, Cidco which is an IAS cadre position,” Wadettiwar said attacking CM Shinde on Sunday.

Dhole was private secretary to Eknath Shinde when the latter was a minister in the earlier Devendra Fadnavis government.

Before this, he was appointed as municipal commissioner of Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC). Last August, he was shunted out of the position soon after the enforcement directorate summoned him in connection with its probe into a money laundering case.

Pointing out Kailas Shinde’s appointment as additional municipal commissioner (AMC), BMC, the opposition leader attacked the chief minister saying that he is demoralising the IAS officers. “The government is also devaluing the important positions to pamper their favourite officials,” he charged.