Ajit Pawar-led finance department stymies land allotment to trust led by state BJP chief

MUMBAI: Amid the several instances of disagreement between leaders of the BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP comes a fresh one, where the finance department headed by the deputy chief minister read the rule book to his ally. The department has strongly objected to the allotment of 5.4 hectares of government land to a trust headed by state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, after which the revenue department was forced to follow the due procedure of inviting applications from the public for the plot located near Nagpur.

The public trust called ‘Shri Mahalaxmi Jagdamba Sansthan’, Koradi, had applied for the land to construct a junior college, a nursing college and other facilities. The trust’s secretary, Dattuji Samritkar, approached the revenue department with a demand for direct allotment of the land, and BJP revenue minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil prepared the proposal for the state cabinet’s approval. However, when the proposal went to the finance department under Ajit Pawar, it raised several objections and strongly opposed the manner in which the plot was proposed to be given to the trust.

According to the finance department’s remarks, a copy of which document HT has in its possession, the revenue department had laid down a policy in July 2019 on the allotment of land to organisations and trusts for social, educational, health and charity purposes. “As per a clause in that policy, the trust should be involved in research activities but this trust is not,” said the notings. “According to the information given in the proposal, the trust works for differently abled and deprived people on different occasions. This kind of work does not require land for a permanent office.”

The finance department in its remarks further pointed out that the trust also did not fulfil the criteria of experience in higher and technical education as per the government norms of 2019 and neither had it done any exceptional or important work. “Considering all these facts, we cannot agree to the demand of direct allotment of land,” said the finance department.

After this, the revenue department in its remarks said that considering the remarks of the finance department, it would not be proper to directly allot the land to the trust. “Instead of the direct allotment of 5.4 hectares of land… the process under Clauses number 1 to 8 in the policy of July 2019 should be followed,” it said. As per this suggested process, the district administration will now have to put in an advertisement seeking applications from organisations in the area for the land, and the final land allotment will be based on a competitive selection process.

When contacted, Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that the land had been sought for “noble work” and the trust had offered to pay the ready-reckoner rates for it. “The trust has been around for many years, and I have been its president only for two,” he said. “Besides, this is not a personal matter. I am working for a cause and the land will not be my personal property.” The BJP state chief said he would not comment on the finance department’s remarks, as it was part of administrative work. “We will follow every rule,” he said,