MUMBAI: Caught in jitters after the November terror attacks, the Maharashtra government has formed a jumbo State Security Council (SSC). A government resolution to this affect was issued here on Thursday evening.
The please-all mega 66-member panel is headed by state Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and includes ministers, leaders from the opposition, state government officials, different political leaders, film and media personalities, officers from the armed forces, representatives from trade and business organizations and hotels, banks and vice chancellor of the University of Pune.
Besides, the mayors of Mumbai and Thane, as also chairpersons of Mumbai and Jawaharlal Nehru ports, chief of the Mumbai airport, representatives of the Airports Authority of India, general managers of Central and Western Railways and the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Bombay Stock Exchange are also included in the panel.
According to the GR, the SSC will review security situation periodically and make recommendations to the state government and private organizations. It will also suggest plans to encourage people’s participation in raising the level of alertness.
Meanwhile, in another shocking development, the comptroller and auditor general has slammed and charged the state chief minister, former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Revenue Minister Patangrao Kadam (all from the Congress) with indulging in “unlawful dealings relating to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) land scandal.”
The politicos charged had dismissed as mere ranting a few months ago, when former Revenue Minister Narayan Rane had alleged that the Deshmukh government was suppressing the CAG report because it would land the chief minister in trouble, may have held a grain of truth after all.
The CAG report for the year ending March 31, 2007, just released cites current chief minister Ashok Chavan and then Cooperation, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Patangrao Kadam as having indulged in “unlawful dealings.”
As far as Deshmukh is concerned, the Vilasrao Deshmukh Foundation applied for allotment of 3.65 lakh square meters plot in an MIDC area in Latur for an educational institution.
AS per CAG, when MIDC allotted plots for the college and a playground, “there was no record of the foundation fulfilling the eligibility criteria as laid down by the MIDC.”
