EGS fraud: ‘Guilty won’t be spared’

The Maharashtra government today warned that nobody will be spared criminal action if found guilty in the Rs. 9.1 crore EGS fraud and that t...

The Maharashtra government today warned that nobody will be spared criminal action if found guilty in the Rs. 9.1 crore EGS fraud and that the money will be recovered from them.

EGS Minister Harshavardhan Patil told The Indian Express that a committee has been set up to examine EGS work of all agencies. ‘‘This is such a serious matter that no stone will remain unturned to find out the people involved in the scam.’’

According to Patil, EGS Secretary Ramesh Chandra Kanade has been asked to give written instructions to the Pune divisional commissioner and the superintendent of police, Solapur Rural, to furnish the preliminary report within 15 days.

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Refusing to be sympathetic towards employees of Solapur district’s agricultural department—which provides the maximum number of works under EGS—who have resigned en masse, Patil said: ‘‘The process of inquiry is on and we are going deep into why this particular agricultural employee, Manoj Nimbalkar, forged signatures for work orders. For this, we have lodged four FIRs at different police stations and we must wait for the completion of the inquiry, after which a stern, final action will be taken.’’

‘‘No other agency will be spared in the investigations … as and when names of more people come out, FIRs will be lodged against them,’’ he added.

Guardian minister of Solapur district Vijaysinh Mohite Patil also backed the investigation: ‘‘Things should come out in the open, for proper action against the guilty.’’