Land allotment plans under cloud

8220;Majority of the elected representatives do not approve of what Jha did after receiving the transfer orders. The Standing Committee has the right to seek information from the administration. The skeletons in the cupboard, if any, would fall out. Let us wait,8221; committee chairman Ramesh Bodke told media persons after the meeting.

The motion seeking the information was moved by Bharatiya Janata Party8217;s Ujjwal Keskar and seconded by Congressmen, Nitin Jagtap and Arvind Shinde. Keskar alleged that Jha had granted the green signal to at least a dozen land allotment proposals during the period between receiving the transfer orders on April 24 and Agarwal taking charge on May 2. He had also made eight temporary appointments of certain persons, who it was claimed were close relatives of his office staff. 8220;What was the urgency in these matters ?,8221; Keskar queried.

Jagtap, in a separate motion, also sought appointment of a standing sub-committee to probe the utilisation of lands allotted by the municipal administration for civic employees cooperative housing societies. At least 24 societies were granted lands and applications of 12 societies were pending clearance, according to him.

However, the elected representatives appeared more keen on what Agarwal8217;s recommendations are in case of Symbiosis Society. The administration has proposed that a land reserved for primary school and playground at Yerwada survey number 4A/1 and 2 be allotted to the institution. Jha had cleared the proposal on April 30.

Similarly, Jha had cleared land allotment proposals for Maharashtra Education Society and Abhinav at Erandwane. Other proposals being questioned include land allotments for the co-operative societies of municipal employees, municipal technical employees, security, water supply, vehicle depot and garden department employees.

Interestingly, the elected members refused to admit all except the proposal related to Symbiosis Society.