Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) spokesperson Sachin Sawant met ACB director Praveen Dixit and handed over a six-page memorandum detailing their charges.
Alleging a scam worth Rs230 crore in the purchase of various items for Aanganwadis in the state, the Congress on Wednesday approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) demanding a probe into the entire Women and Child Development (WCD) Department. The opposition also demanded removal of WCD minister Pankaja Munde from the state cabinet.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) spokesperson Sachin Sawant met ACB director Praveen Dixit and handed over a six-page memorandum detailing their charges.
The Congress has alleged that despite rules mandating e-tendering for expenses above Rs3 lakh, the WCD had taken decisions for purchases worth Rs206 crore in a single day by clearing 24 proposals in 24 hours.
The MPCC functionary said that none of the decisions was put on the government website for obvious reasons. He pointed out that in most of the cases, orders were placed without ascertaining as to whether the items were really required. The government also agreed to rates quoted by the suppliers.
Among the 24 decisions are purchase of chikki or jaggery ground-nut sweet, carpets, water filters, medicines and uniforms for Aanganwadis, government centres aimed at development of women and development.
For the purchase of chikki, which is provided to children under the integrated child development scheme, Sawant alleged, a proposal worth Rs123 crore was cleared in just one meeting. He said that vendor Suryakanta Mahila Udyog from Vengurla (district Sindhudurg) was given the contract despite being banned by the Nagpur bench of the bombay high court.
Munde has maintained that all the purchases have been made as per government norms and there is no scope of any scam . She said she will take legal action against all those who are trying to malign her image.
Meanwhile, revenue minister Eknath Khadse said that there was nothing wrong in taking many decisions in one day. He said that if the purchases have been made as per the rate contracts, there is nothing illegal about them.
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