Maratha Politics

Ajit Pawar, Ex- CM of Maharashtra

Nowadays corruption is flourishing in India and has become an integral part of the country. The rampant corruption is prevalent in all the parts of India and that's why now the common denizens of India have become used to tolerating the scams made by the central government and state governments. People raised their voice against this but all things were futile or in vain and didn't bear any fruit and the voice of people was suppressed because no one paid heed to their rising voice. 

Again a scam has emerged into limelight from the darkness of politics. This time it is Irrigation scam of Maharashtra which is worth more than your expectation and fantasy and has crossed the gamut of the scams and the imagination of people of India. Today, I am talking about The Maharashtra Irrigation scam, which has cost the losses of Rs. 35,000 crores to Maharashtra Government and has resulted out in the draining of an immense and substantial amount of money which if would have been invested in the welfare of people would have definitely resulted in a great uprise of the lower and lower middle class and would have decidedly cured many problems confronted by the country upto a small extent but, the ministers who are athirst of power and money, notwithstanding considering the problems and queries of the people or the kings who choose them and who put all their faith in them, make plans of replenishing their home with humongous amount of money, but something that these cheap people forget is that "BAD IDEAS AND WORKS CAN NEVER DEFEAT GOOD IDEAS AND WORKS"  and as Chanakya has said" Vinashkale Viprit Budhee" which means during the time of our destruction, we go against our intelligence, and these people also do the same thing and make goof ups which results in their ultimate end.

  The Maharashtra irrigation scam was revealed after the Economic Survey’s observation that though Rs 70,000 crores had been spent on various projects in the last decade, the state’s irrigation potential had increased only 0.1% and due to this disclosure DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER OF MAHARASHTRA MR. AJIT PAWAR has also resigned because he has also been alleged of being embroiled in the Maharashtra Irrigation Scam as he was the state irrigation minister at that time. Ajit Pawar is also the nephew of Mr. Sharad Pawar, Agriculture Minister Of India. The state irrigation ministry has been in hand of NCP since 1999 and was being run by Ajit Pawar till 2009 and after him Sunil Tatkare has  been spearheading the ministry. Ajit Pawar suddenly gave his resignation after the revelation of scam and relinquished his powers but the government in Maharashtra was first reluctant to consider the resignation but has to because of the circumstances. The thing that has disturbed the Maha government more than anything is that this scam coincided with the exposure made by the media about Sunil Tatkare’s alleged involvement in irregularities and the floating of more than 140 companies by his relatives. And you people would undeniably be shocked by the intensity of scam- The scam involves 32 projects in the under-developed Vidarbha region alone while the rest are in Konkan and north Maharashtra. It has also been alleged that the scam involves inviting tenders at higher cost and involves many political bosses, irrigation officials and contractors. The cost of 38 irrigation projects in Vidarbha was increased by over 300% from Rs 6,672 crore to Rs 26,722 crore by the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) and this was approved in a short span of three months between June and August 2009. The VIDC, however, argued that the costs were revised because of the change in price levels, higher quotes by contractors, increase in the cost of land acquisition, engineering changes and other reasons. In yet another case, revised administrative approval for the Lower Wardha project was granted on the Independence Day, a national holiday.  Interestingly, the cost was revised to Rs 2,356 crore from Rs 950 crore by VIDC executive director on that day.The cost of the Upper Wardha project in Amravati was revised to Rs 1,376 crore from Rs 661 crore.
Another case is that of the Bembala river project in Yavatmal district of Vidarbha. Its cost was revised from Rs 1,278 crore to Rs 2,176 crore on August 14, 2009. Bembala was one of the 10 projects which got approvals in a hurry.
 When grilled by the media persons the honorable Ex- minister said the decisions were taken while keeping the state cabinet in the loop. Furthermore, he added that these decisions were taken well within the power vested in him as the irrigation minister.   

But the good news that is coming is that the honest body CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) has started investigating the matter and will come up with honest and fair results soon.

  It can only be judged who is guilty after a fair trail but something that is as transparent as a glass is that this scam is undoubtedly a very big one and also includes many big names who have been benefited from the scams and will produce shocking revelations.