Pimpri-Chinchwad: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Pune District Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar was on a Pune District tour on Wednesday, where he visited the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad cities. He even had his Jansamwad (public dialogue) in the Chinchwad Assembly Constituency. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Pawar spoke on numerous issues.
One of them included recent buzz within the city about Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) being under thousands of crores of loans due to a developmental project. Ajit Pawar utilised this question to potentially take a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and senior Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers.
When asked about PCMC being in debt, Ajit Pawar said that he is aware of the rumour that the former Commissioner, IAS Shekhar Singh, made the PCMC debt-ridden in the name of development work. "I have instructed the current IAS Commissioner Shravan Hardikar to find out the truth in this," Pawar said.
Further indirectly targeting the BJP and multiple commissioners of PCMC after 2017, Pawar said, "I was in charge of the city for 25 years, but I never let the city incur even a single rupee of debt. When IAS Ashish Sharma was the PCMC Commissioner (from May 2008 to April 2012), there was a slight rumour about debt. However, we increased revenue through tax collection and reduced loopholes." Ajit Pawar controlled the Pimpri-Chinchwad city, as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had power over PCMC until the BJP won the elections in 2017.
Ajit Pawar further added, "My colleagues, under my leadership, did excellent work in the PCMC from 1992 to 2017. During that time, I even decided who should be the Leader of the Opposition for many years. I made decisions by taking the opposition into confidence. The PCMC's work was conducted in a cordial atmosphere. I did not allow extreme differences of opinion to arise. I also got work done for corporators from the opposition party."
Pawar further explained his developmental works in the city and said that currently, he is looking to get water for the city from additional sources. "We need more water. The water from Pawana Dam alone is not enough," noted Pawar.
'I Hope Mahayuti Contests Elections Together.'
When asked about coalition dynamics in the upcoming Maharashtra local body elections, Pawar said, "While working together in the Mahavikas Aghadi, I was trying for an alliance in the local body elections even at that time. Now we are in the Mahayuti. Therefore, it is our expectation that the Mahayuti should contest the local self-government body elections together."
The state government has transferred PCMC Commissioner Shekhar Singh, assigning him the responsibility for the Nashik Kumbh Mela. Shravan Hardikar, Managing Director of Maha Metro, who has previously worked as PCMC Commissioner, has been given the additional charge of the Commissioner's post. Many IAS officers have been assigned responsibilities for the Bihar elections. Therefore, Hardikar will hold the post of Commissioner until the PCMC elections are held. A new commissioner will be appointed to the PCMC after the election, Ajit Pawar stated.
3,000 Complaints in Jansamvad, 1,200 Issues Resolved
Three thousand complaints were registered during the public dialogue, out of which 1,200 were resolved immediately. The complaints were related to social welfare, water supply, revenue, construction permits, police, solid waste management, the city survey office, electricity distribution, health, co-operative societies, and the traffic branch. More than 200 complaints and requests for some work were received for each department.
Guardian Minister On PMRDA & Hinjawadi
Speaking about the alleged illegal transactions of Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) plots, Pawar said, "It has come to light that illegal buying and selling of plots held by PMRDA is happening, which is a fraud. Buying such land is wrong. All applications from the public dialogue will be followed up on. We may not be able to complete 100% of the work, but we will try to get as much work done as possible through coordination with senior officials."
Speaking on the recent accidents and following protests in Hinjawadi, Ajit Pawar, rather a bit irritably, said, "You all know I inspected the Hinjawadi area in the interim. The works that could be done during the rain were completed. We removed many obstacles. Works for which we had to wait for the rain to finish will begin now. I'll speak with the police and ask them to take heavy action on rule breakers, too."
