Agarwal orders a probe into supply office affairs

Meanwhile, Divisional Commissioner Rajeev Agrawal has also ordered the transfer of foodgrain supply department employees in Pune city and district who are facing charges of inefficiency.

Interestingly, an inquiry report against these inefficient lot of supply department men has been pending for 12 years. Being attributed to transit losses and administrative lapses at the godown levels, the foodgrain losses were said to be the highest in Solapur district.

“Change the entire lot in the supply wing,” Agrawal told the Pune district collector during the first leg of a meeting of district collectors in the Pune revenue division on Thursday, well-placed sources told The Indian Express.

The divisional commissioner voiced his displeasure over the performance of the foodgrain supply department, it was stated.

According to available information, inquiries were ordered against a few employees of the supply department in 1987. No action was taken in this regard till date, the divisional commissioner was informed during the meeting.

A total of 1077 cases involving foodgrain worth over Rs 49.23 lakh were pending, deputy commissioner (supply) Shankarrao Satav said, adding that the amounts would be recovered from persons responsible wherever possible.

The employees were charged with issuing permits without proper documents, discrepancies in stocks of grain, their prices and recovery.

The Pune district collector, at a meeting last month, had ticked off supply wing officials for their “unsatisfactory” performance. The collector’s advice and warnings had had no discernible effect, it was stated.

The meeting was also informed that raids were conducted at 47 fair price shops in Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur and Kolhapur districts between April and September this year. Criminal cases were filed against four shop owners in Solapur, the meeting was informed.

The meeting also dealt with survey of government land and unauthorised structures in Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur and Kolhapur districts. The divisional commissioner was told that the number of unauthorised structures which were needed to be removed was more than those could be regularised.

The meeting was attended by district collectors Vijaykumar Gautam (Pune), Deepak Kapoor (Solapur), Anil Diggikar (Satara) and Arvind Singh (Kolhapur) and deputy commissioners Vishwas Bhosale and T S Rajurkar.