MUMBAI, Feb 13: Chief Minister Narayan Rane is likely to review some of the major policy decisions taken by the Urban Development Department when it was headed by former CM Manohar Joshi.The decision is seen in political circles as an attempt to embarrass Joshi.While Rane refused to comment, a senior official justified the move. ``It is the prerogative of the Chief Minister. Under the rules of business, the Chief Minister is fully empowered to review as well as revoke any decision taken by the previous government,'' he told The Indian Express.The official recalled as to how the then Minister Sharad Pawar had revoked the decisions taken by Sudhakarrao Naik, who was asked to quit in the wake of communal riots in the metropolis following the Babri Masjid demolition.Pawar had reviewed the decisions taken by the government, which was also ruled by the Congress. Rane is walking the same path the earlier government too was of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, in which he was Revenue and Dairy DevelopmentMinister.Under the circumstances, the official said, the bureaucracy will not be surprised if the new Chief Minister asks for the files of departments controlled by Joshi.The official said the Cabinet decision to grant concession in the premium for additional floor space index to leading hotels and permit a section of textile mills in the metropolis to dispose of surplus land are likely to be reviewed. ``No doubt, they were Cabinet decisions, but the Chief Minister can still review them if they were not in the public interest,'' the official said.The government's decision to grant massive concessions in the premium on additional FSI had come in for severe criticism in both Houses of the State Legislature during the winter session.Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Chhagan Bhujbal and Congress leader R R Patil had attacked Joshi in the upper and lower Houses respectively, for obliging the powerful hotel lobby. Patil had even alleged that Joshi was himself a beneficiary of theCabinet decision. Along with the Congress-led Opposition, a section of the Shiv Sena and BJP Cabinet members had also expressed surprise over the decision.The Congress government had decided to levy a premium on additional FSI granted to star hotels and accordingly amended the Development Control rules. Though the decision was taken in 1990, no formula was fixed for the recovery of premium. When the alliance government came to power in March 1995, it drafted rules to provide for the exact amount of premium.However, instead of recovering the premium, the government, during Joshi's tenure, hiked the concession from 50 per cent to 90 per cent for one, two and three-star hotels, 0 to 85 per cent for four-star hotels and 0 to 75 per cent for five-star hotels. As per the Cabinet decision, the loss to the exchequer owing to concession in the premium amount was Rs 80 crore.Where the permission for disposal of surplus textile mill land is concerned, the allegation against the Joshi government was that insteadof taking a policy decision on surplus mill land, it selectively granted permission.Pro-Joshi Cabinet members in the Rane Government have expressed surprise over the move, saying it will have an adverse effect on the government.``Since Rane was a Cabinet minister in the earlier government, he should have raised the objection then, instead of creating an unexpected situation now,'' a senior BJP Minister said.
