Mumbai: In a major reshuffle, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government has transferred 22 bureaucrats, including the Director-General of Information and Public Relations (DGIPR) Brijesh Singh and the additional commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Pravin Darade, known for their proximity to former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Singh will continue as special IG, cybercrime, while Darade will now be Pune's new social welfare commissioner. Sindhudurg district collector DD Pandharpatte will be the new DGIPR.
The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have been strident in their demand for the transfers of Singh and Darade, who were pampered by the previous BJP-led government. Now that Darade's posting will be in Pune, he will have to vacate the imposing bungalow at Malabar Hill. There was a huge controversy after it was allotted to him in 2014, when he was the additional municipal commissioner. His wife Pallavi Darade is the food and drug commissioner, Maharashtra.
Former Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam had alleged that Darade had helped Vidarbha Infotech, an information technology company, to bag the contract for towing vehicles which had violated parking rules in Mumbai. Darade was then the additional commissioner of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and secretary to Fadnavis. However, Fadnavis's office had clarified that there was no wrongdoing in the awarding of the towing contract to Vidarbha Infotech.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Sachin Sawant had targeted Brijesh Singh for alleged mismanagement in tendering for the 'Mi Mukhya Mantri Boltoy' television show. These allegations were also refuted by Fadnavis's office.
The Goods and Service Tax commissioner, Rajiv Jalota, has been moved as rural development secretary. He will replace the incumbent Asim Gupta, who will be the new energy secretary. The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company MD Sanjeev Kumar, the additional chief secretary-rank IAS officer, will be the new GST commissioner. The Free Press Journal had broken the story of the MVA's reshuffle plans in its Sunday edition.
P Velrasu, a member-secretary of the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran, will be the new additional municipal commissioner in place of Darade. Mrs J Mukherjee, the managing director of the Maharashtra State Textile Corporation, has been appointed the additional chief secretary of the department of minority development and will replace the incumbent, SA Tagde, who will be the new principal secretary of the textiles department. The current principal secretary of the textile department KH Govindraj will take over as the additional metropolitan commissioner in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.
The Maharashtra State Small Scale Industries Development Corporation managing director B Venugopal Reddy has been posted as the principal secretary, forests, as the post had been vacant since incumbent Vikas Kharge's appointment as the principal secretary in the chief minister's office.
Sales tax commissioner Shaila A has been transferred as the chairman and managing director of the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company. Satara district collector Shweta Singhal is now the additional divisional commissioner, Pune, while the soil and water conservation commissioner Deepak Singala will be the new Gadchiroli district collector, replacing Shekhar Singh who will be new Satara district collector.
Sindhudurg Zilla Parishad CEO Manju Laxmi will be the new district collector of the same district, while Solapur district collector RB Bhosale has been appointed the joint MD of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company. Pune Municipal Transport Corporation CMD Nayana Gunde will be the new commissioner of the tribal research and training institute. She will be replaced by Raigad district collector VN Suryavanshi.
The Bhandara Zilla Parishad CEO RS Jagtap has been transferred as the additional Nagpur divisional commissioner and will be replaced by the current Nashik Zilla Parishad CEO Bhuvaneshwari. Madan Nagargoje has been appointed as the director of information technology.
