Cabinet gets no report on Dharma Patil

Exactly one week after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured his colleagues in the cabinet that a Chief Secretary level inquiry will be initiated into the suicide of farmer Dharma Patil, little seems to have been done on ground.

Not a word about Patil's death was discussed in the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, DNA has found out.

DNA spoke to number of ministers after the Cabinet meeting, who corroborated that issue of Patil's death was not mentioned at all.

Patil, a farmer from Dhule, had consumed poison outside the Chief Minister's office to protest inadequate compensation for his land acquired by the government for a power project. He died a few days later in J J Hospital, and his son Narendra Patil did not accept his corpse until the Government assured him in writing that it would re-evaluate the compensation.

Shiv Sena minister Diwakar Raote had raised the issue of Patil's death at the last Cabinet meeting. Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had said last Tuesday that Fadnavis had directed the chief secretary to conduct inquiry into Patil's death and submit a report in seven days in the Cabinet i.e. yesterday's cabinet meeting.

Agriculture Minister Pandurag Fundkar said that Patil's issue did not come up for discussion as Tuesday's Cabinet discussed policies related to the Industries department.