Prithviraj begins the big review

A day after getting his team in place, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan set the ball rolling on Saturday.

A day after getting his team in place, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan set the ball rolling on Saturday.

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The new chief minister said he would regularly review all regional development packages, which were announced by the previous governments.

“I propose to monitor the packages (for Vidarbha, Konkan, Marathwada and north Maharashtra) every month. A monitoring system will be put in place to control implementation of the packages,” Chavan told the media after his first meeting with the council of ministers at the Sahyadri Guest House on Saturday.

The total worth of time-bound packages in the state is more than Rs 25,000 crore. The three-year Vidarbha package alone costs the state Rs 10,000 crore. The package began in 2009-10 and will end in 2012. The assistance focuses on arresting the agrarian crisis that has witnessed more than 10,000 farmers ending their lives in the past decade.

Chavan is specifically interested in the Vidarbha package as he had played a big role in formulating the Prime Minister’s package for the region four years ago. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had received complaints of irregularities in implementation of both the PM’s and CM’s packages.

The government expects the Opposition to raise questions on the Vidarbha package in the winter legislative session, which begins in Nagpur on December 1.

At Saturday’s meeting, Chavan asked his cabinet colleagues to work together for the aam aadami.

“I have great expectations (from ministers) because most of you have worked as ministers of several departments in the past. I am confident that the new council of ministers will work for developing the state further,” Chavan told the ministers.

According to Chavan, the appointments of district guardian ministers and guardian secretaries would be made by November end.