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Opposition demands inquiry in PMC after govt starts CAG probe into BMC affairs in last two years
The state government has initiated an inquiry in BMC through CAG. Why it is only for Mumbai civic body? It should be for Pune too, said former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan
After chief minister Eknath Shinde-led government ordered Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to conduct a probe into the allocation of works by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday demanded a similar probe at Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
Speaking at a press conference, Chavan said, “The state government has initiated an inquiry in BMC through CAG. Why it is only for Mumbai civic body? It should be for Pune too.”
Earlier on Monday, the state government ordered the CAG to inquire about the Mumbai civic body’s affairs and decisions taken in the past couple of years. The probe would cover the measures by Uddhav Thackeray-led BMC taken in two years during the pandemic -- 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 -- and into the allegations of corruption and irregularities in awarding various contracts without tenders.
The probe came following a demand by several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders alleging scams in the construction and purchases of Covid-19 facilities and jumbo hospitals.
The PMC too had faced allegations of irregularities during the pandemic years when the opposition Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) questioned purchases made to tackle Covid at higher prices. The BJP, which controlled Pune civic body however had refuted the allegations.
When asked about the probe by CAG at BMC, Chavan demanded a similar probe at Pune Municipal Corporation which was ruled by BJP between 2017 to 2022.
The state Congress chief Nana Patole too flayed the state government’s decision saying BMC is being singled out because it was controlled by Shiv Sena.
The PMC administration in February 2021 had ordered an inquiry into the Rs16.80 crore inflated bill submission for Rs3.78 crore Covid care centre cleaning contract work. The inquiry was ordered following allegations of irregularities from the opposition.
The opposition had alleged that instead of offering wages to the cleaners on a daily basis, the civic body sanctioned bills on a rate per square feet basis causing a loss of public money to the PMC exchequer.
According to the complainants, despite objections being raised by the vigilance department of the civic body, the cleaning contract bills were processed. The cleaning contract deals with as many as 52 Covid care centres which were operational in the city and despite a number of discrepancies in the contract tenders, efforts were not taken to rectify the mistakes, the complainants alleged.
