Senior Congress leaders including Nana Patole, Nitin Raut, Vijay Wadettiwar and Sunil Kedar on Friday reached Mumbai from their respective districts while travelling in their separate vehicles to tick off chief secretary Ajoy Mehta.
The delegation led by Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Nana Patole expressed their displeasure over the functioning of chief secretary Ajoy Mehta while alleging that he has reversed the decision taken by the state cabinet.
The delegation - comprising of three cabinet members including Raut, Kedar and Wadettiwar - spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray via video conference. Along with CM Thackeray, the delegation also spoke to Congress state chief Balasaheb Thorat and Ajoy Mehta.
“Ajoy Mehta is not taking cabinet members into confidence in making a policy decision. A group of secretaries take key decisions and we are in the dark,” Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut was quoted in a report by Times of India.
Raut, also the guardian minister for Nagpur, further informed that the cabinet decided to provide food kits for the poor and needy instead of cooked food. The decision, however, was reversed by the chief secretary, the Congress leader added.
“If we provide cooked food to a lakh people, it will cost ₹15 crores per month. However, if we provide food kits, it will cost ₹2.5 crores. As a guardian minister, I took the decision but it was reversed by the chief secretary,” said Raut, adding that it was suggested to Thackeray that certain power on lockdown relaxation should remain with the guardian ministers.
“A special grant of ₹2.5 crores should be provided to each legislator for relief measures,” Raut added.
Raut, Wadettiwar and Kedar are the guardian ministers of Nagpur, Chandrapur and Wardha, respectively. The delegation led by Patole drove back on Saturday morning amid the lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.
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