Pull up corrupt officials, Bhatia asks Cabinet Secy

PUNE, MAY 26: Soon after the Maharashtra Government replaced its Chief Secretary P Subrahmanyam by Arun Bongirwar in the wake of controve...

PUNE, MAY 26: Soon after the Maharashtra Government replaced its Chief Secretary P Subrahmanyam by Arun Bongirwar in the wake of controversy over transfer of a senior officer Arun Bhatia, the officer released a letter to the press urging the Union Cabinet Secretary to order prosecution of State Government officials found guilty of corruption by him in the state.

Bhatia was transferred as Municipal Commissioner of Pune following his demolition drive against illegal constructions done by highly connected people and he went into an appeal in the Bombay High Court which ruled that an official like him ought to be encouraged rather than punished with a transfer.

Even as the State Government effected transfer of Chief Secretary P Subrahmanyam, who was appointed to the post during chief ministership of Manohar Joshi, Bhatia made available to the press a copy of the letter he had sent to Union Cabinet Secretary Prabhat Kumar seeking prosecution of officials guilty of corruption in the State.

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The letter with itssignature deleted, apparently because of service rules, cited a number of corruption cases which include: “About 100 talathis and circle officers were found involved in hardcore corruption consisting of falsification of official records, forgery, deliberate bypassing of mandatory procedure to favour particular parties etc.

"These cases were found in the scrutiny of about 23,000 complaints. A total of about 84,000 complaints have been obtained. These do not include other less serious irregularities.

"Corruption in the irrigation department amounting to almost Rs three crores.

"Corruption in the Pimpri Chinchwad New Township Development Authority running into many lakhs on the basis of contracts examined, in which illegal cost escalations were given to favour the contractors," Bhatia said in his letter.