Special packages under the scanner

The decision was taken at the first meeting of the new council of ministers on Saturday.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said,“People expect a lot from us and also (expect) a change¿the new council of minister has experienced ministers who would do a constructive job.”

To begin with,the regional relief packages would come under scanner. “We are in the process of setting up a special monitoring mechanism for a monthly review of the four packages,” he said. “The guardian ministers and guardian secretaries would soon be announced for the districts.”

The monitoring authority would look into issues ranging from any slackness in achieving physical targets to making adequate provision of funds,he said.

The Vidarbha package worth Rs 10,000 crore has been taken up first and a detailed discussion is scheduled in the next cabinet meeting on November 24. The package to be implemented over three years (2009-10 to 2011-12) involves major projects for overall development of the region.

The council of ministers also reviewed damage to caused by unseasonal rain in the state. Ministers had been asked to go to their regions,review the damage and submit information in the next cabinet meeting.

Chavan sets rule for questions from media
A day after his council of ministers was sworn in,Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday tried to rein in the media at a press briefing,asking mediapersons to ask questions strictly related to issues discussed in the cabinet.

After the first meeting of his council of ministers,Chavan,accompanied by his deputy Ajit Pawar,categorically stated that he would not answer any other question.

He said he and Pawar would like to brief the media after cabinet meetings only on the condition that mediapersons would not ask questions on any topic they like.

“Let us set a ground rule first,” Chavan said in his opening statement during the interaction. He said if mediapersons deviate from the rule,the briefings would be discontinued.

Chavan winded up in about 10 minutes,without allowing Pawar to say a word. He also refused to speak in Hindi for some TV channels.

Media briefings after the weekly cabinet meetings had been discontinued by former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh,after he was asked uncomfortable questions. His successor Ashok Chavan who revived the practice stopped it after sometime as he did not want to face inconvenient questions.