This is an archive article published on December 29, 2022

More inquiries in ‘irregularities’ in work contracts linked to BMC-run hospitals during MVA regime

Initially, leader of opposition in state Assembly Ajit Pawar mentioned the issue of Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar denying permission to raise the reserved question on the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) scam from last week.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)

3 min readNagpurDec 29, 2022 03:16 AM IST First published on: Dec 29, 2022 at 03:16 AM IST

The Maharashtra government has ordered a slew of inquiries in both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council in alleged irregularities given in work contracts linked to hospitals run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) during the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) regime.

Initially, leader of opposition in state Assembly Ajit Pawar mentioned the issue of Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar denying permission to raise the reserved question on the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) scam from last week. The Opposition, which has been claiming that two daughters of Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar benefited from the scam, also boycotted the Assembly proceedings after Narvekar refused permission to discuss the issue.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that it was “the Opposition revealed its hypocrisy by demanding an inquiry in the scam which happened when they were in power”. None of Sattar’s daughters benefited from the scam, or got jobs through TET, he added.

BJP MLA Sanjay Kute, meanwile, said that an inquiry must be conducted on how “disqualified companies were made eligible to conduct TET”. “It is true that several disqualified companies were given work for the same. So, a high-level inquiry will be conducted in the case,” Kute said on Wednesday.

In the state Assembly, Kute again demanded an inquiry into alleged irregularities in the ongoing recruitment of nursing staff through the Maharashtra Nursing Council. Medical Education Minister Girish Mahajan said an inquiry will be initiated to probe the alleged irregularities.

BJP MLCs Pravin Darekar and Prasad Lad in Legislative Council mentioned a Rs 200-crore scam in Bhagwati Hospital case, in which Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ordered an inquiry.

“The then CM and party, who controlled BMC, had given a contract of Rs 483 crore to Bhagwati Hiralal Hospital. Out of this, work of Rs 200 crore was under the Electrical and Mechanical Department; and according to the tender, the brand and vendors (supplier of the equipment) were specified. But during the ongoing work, the brand and vendors were changed… so, now we will get only equipment worth Rs 60-70 crore by paying the same amount. I have been constantly complaining about this, but BMC did not act on it yet. This has happened with the blessing of the ruling party. So, my first question is whether action would be taken in this case, and will the work be stopped? The CM should give an answer, and initiate an inquiry into it,” Lad said.

Darekar also demanded an inquiry into the matter, mentioning “it is a scam of Rs 200 crore”.

Shinde, meanwhile, said, “There is no reason to safeguard anyone in our government. We won’t do it… Whatever points you have raised, we will conduct inquiry into them. And action will be taken accordingly.”