Blame game on as Pawar raps Deshmukh

Hitting out at former bureaucrat Madhav Godbole, who headed the Energy Review Committee (ERC) set up by the Deshmukh government in 2001, Pawar said state leaders needed to have vision for the future. ‘‘The bureaucracy or intellectuals do not decide the state’s future. The state leaders have to show the vision and take risks for a better future,’’ he said.

Pawar’s comments assume significance as he holds the Godbole committee responsible for blocking Enron and other private power projects. Pawar, apparently, is miffed with Deshmukh, who last week stood up for the Godbole committee on the ground that it was the state Cabinet that accepted the former bureaucrat’s report.

Meanwhile, Pawar said high dependency on agriculture is fatal for the country and the state. Pointing to the reduced landholdings with farmers, Pawar said toiling such a marginal area was not financially viable. ‘‘It is advisable that only one member of a family relies on agriculture. The rest should look for self-enterprise or jobs in industries,’’ he said. However, he admitted that industries were reeling under power cuts.

‘‘We always had industries making a beeline for Maharashtra because of abundant power supply and high productivity,’’ he said.