1st JULY 2015 VINOD TAWADE SCAM 191 CRORES IN FIRE EXTINGUISHERS OF SCHOOLS
Fadnavis Government Hit by Second Scam Allegation, This Time Over Minister Vinod Tawde
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MUMBAI: Another minister in the BJP-led Maharashtra government, Vinod Tawde, is caught in controversy over the award of a contract for fire extinguishers for schools, allegedly without a tender.
Mr Tawde, who handles the education portfolio, is the second minister in the seven-month-old Devendra Fadnavis government to face allegations of financial irregularity in award of contracts. The state's Minister for Women and Child Welfare Development Pankaja Munde has been accused by the opposition of a nearly 200-crore scam.
The Congress is out on the streets on Mumbai demanding the resignation of both ministers.
Maharashtra's finance department had in January this year stopped a 191-crore purchase order issued by Mr Tawde's ministry for fire extinguishers for government-run schools. It said a Supreme Court order had made the installation of fire extinguishers mandatory only for school buildings more than a floor high. Sources said only 19 crore had been sanctioned for fire extinguishers in schools.
"The Finance Department has raised objections, we are clarifying to them on the issue," Mr Tawde told NDTV today, adding, "I have not given a single rupee to any contractor."
Maharashtra's Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, whose department raised objections to the contract, says there is no cause for controversy. "The Finance Ministry raised objections based on Supreme Court guidelines. This is an old file.The Education Minister himself had stopped the file after the objection."
"This is a conspiracy to defame the government," said Mr Mungantiwar.
The Fadnavis government has also so far firmly backed Pankaja Munde, who arrived in Mumbai from the US this morning.
The Congress claims that it has documents to prove that Ms Munde, 35, violated rules earlier this year for a transparent tendering process while sanctioning contracts, also allegedly without a tender, for items like snacks, books and water filters for government-run schools that educate tribal children.
The BJP's partner in the Maharashtra government, the Shiv Sena, has said the charges against Ms Munde "are serious."
Ms Munde has said there has been "no violation of rules." She told supporters today that she would "never do anything that harms the legacy of my father." Her father, Gopinath Munde, was hugely popular Maharashtra leader who died in a road accident last year.
Mr Tawde, who handles the education portfolio, is the second minister in the seven-month-old Devendra Fadnavis government to face allegations of financial irregularity in award of contracts. The state's Minister for Women and Child Welfare Development Pankaja Munde has been accused by the opposition of a nearly 200-crore scam.
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Maharashtra's finance department had in January this year stopped a 191-crore purchase order issued by Mr Tawde's ministry for fire extinguishers for government-run schools. It said a Supreme Court order had made the installation of fire extinguishers mandatory only for school buildings more than a floor high. Sources said only 19 crore had been sanctioned for fire extinguishers in schools.
"The Finance Department has raised objections, we are clarifying to them on the issue," Mr Tawde told NDTV today, adding, "I have not given a single rupee to any contractor."
Maharashtra's Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, whose department raised objections to the contract, says there is no cause for controversy. "The Finance Ministry raised objections based on Supreme Court guidelines. This is an old file.The Education Minister himself had stopped the file after the objection."
"This is a conspiracy to defame the government," said Mr Mungantiwar.
The Fadnavis government has also so far firmly backed Pankaja Munde, who arrived in Mumbai from the US this morning.
The Congress claims that it has documents to prove that Ms Munde, 35, violated rules earlier this year for a transparent tendering process while sanctioning contracts, also allegedly without a tender, for items like snacks, books and water filters for government-run schools that educate tribal children.
The BJP's partner in the Maharashtra government, the Shiv Sena, has said the charges against Ms Munde "are serious."
Ms Munde has said there has been "no violation of rules." She told supporters today that she would "never do anything that harms the legacy of my father." Her father, Gopinath Munde, was hugely popular Maharashtra leader who died in a road accident last year.
Story First Published: June 30, 2015 10:34 IST
FROM THE WEB
Vinod Tawde accused of irregularities in awarding contract: Here’s all you need to know about the case
In fresh trouble for the BJP government in Maharashtra, state Education Minister Vinod Tawde has been accused of irregularities in connection with awarding of a Rs 191 crore contract without inviting tenders, a charge denied by him. The contract, cleared by Tawde, was put on hold after the finance department objected to it.
The allegations against Tawde came within days of Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde facing similar accusations in awarding contracts for various purchases worth Rs 206 crore on a single day in February this year without following the mandatory e-tendering process.
Here is all you need to know about the case related to Vinod Tawde.
Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawre. Agencies
What is the case all about?
On 11 February, the education department had issued a government resolution authorising the office of the Education Director (Primary) to enter into a rate contract for supply of 62,105 fire extinguishers for Zilla Parishad schools across the state. Each fire extinguisher was to be procured at a price of Rs 8,321 and each school was to be provided three pieces, according to a PTI report.
The contract, cleared by Tawde, has, however, been put on hold after the Finance Department objected to it and sought a probe, official sources said.
PTI further stated in their report that the first-ever BJP-led government in Maharashtra has made e-tendering of contracts mandatory for all purchases above Rs 3 lakh. Quoting financial department’s official note on the same issue, a report in The Indian Express said, “Official communications show that the orders were issued following Tawde’s directives dated 6 January.”
According to a report in DNA, the file, in the same issue, was first moved during the rule of the Congress-NCP combine in Maharashtra. The then Education Minister Rajendra Darda was initially in favour of the proposal, Tawde told DNA.
On 27 February, after getting government’s nod, Education Director (Primary) Mahavir Rane, gave the contract to Reliable Fire Engineers in Thane. According toNDTV, the finance department’s approval was not taken before authorising or signing the rate contract. But after senior bureaucrats in the finance department objected and pointed to alleged irregularities in the contract, the education department stayed its earlier order on 4 March.
But by then, the contractor had already raised a bill of Rs 6.20 crore for the supply of 6,047 extinguishers, the finance department note said. Further supplies had been stopped after the department raised objections, theIE report said.
Who said what:
The Opposition mounted attack on Tawde even as the minister denied all the charges against him. “Not a single rupee has been paid to contractors. We stopped the order immediately after the Finance Department raised objections,” Tawde was quoted as saying by PTI on Tuesday.
Even Shiv Sena, a BJP ally in Maharashtra, did not spare Tawde. Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant on Tuesday favoured his stepping down until proven innocent. “When such an incident had happened during Balasaheb’s time, he asked for proof against his minister. When he prima facie found substance in the material given to him, he asked his minister to resign, face an inquiry and asked him to come out clean. He had categorically told his minister that he would be reinstated if he comes clean in the inquiry,” Sawant told PTI.
Meanwhile, top BJP ministers in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra rushed to defend Tawde, who maintained that there was no wrongdoing on his part in the alleged scam.
At a hurriedly convened press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon, Tawde was flanked by Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and Co-operatives minister Chandrakant Patil. “The Opposition is making a mountain out of mole hill,” Mungantiwar said.
“Our Education department budget for the purpose is Rs 18 crore but there are allegations of a Rs 191 crore scam. I (the department) had Rs 18 crore. I could have easily purchased equipment worth that amount. If I were to comply with the SC order, I would have needed Rs 191 crore. I asked Finance Department what should I do? There was already a provision of Rs 18 crore made by earlier Congress government for purchase of fire-fighting equipment in schools. Had we wanted, we could have ordered equipment based on that provision. However, we approached the finance department, asking about providing the equipment to all the schools. That amount came to Rs 191 crore. That is what is being referred as the ‘Rs 191 crore scam’ despite the fact that not a single rupee has been given to anyone,”PTI quoted the Education Minister as saying.
Not a first for Tawde
This is not the first controversy for Vinod Tawde. Earlier this week, the minister was caught up in a fake degree row, after a news-channel reported that Tawde’s BE electronics degree was ‘bogus’. The minister had clarified and refuted the charges.
Vinod Tawde accused of irregularities in awarding contract: Here’s all you need to know about the case
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