Kejriwal’s party releases Black Paper on Maharashtra irrigation scam

Mangalore Today/ CNN/IBN

Mumbai, Dec 02: Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has released a "Black Paper" today in response to the White Paper on irrigation that has been prepared by the Maharashtra government. The activist-turned-politician has slammed the report which was presented to the state cabinet on Friday and practically gives a clean chit to NCP leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar who resigned following allegations of under-performance and corruption in the irrigation sector.

 

"We reject the White Paper on irrigation in Maharashtra," Mr Kejriwal said, while demanding the resignation of Irrigation Minister Sunil Tatkare. The irrigation minister had, according to sources, made the White Paper presentation at a two-hour-long meeting at the state guest-house Sahyadri in Mumbai on Thursday.

Mr Kejriwal’s party also wants a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to be established to investigate the irrigation scam.

The AAP says the "Black Paper" exposes the modus operandi of how the Rs. 70,000-crore irrigation scam in Maharashtra was perpetuated by the politician-bureaucrat-contractor nexus. "This Black Paper exposes the farcical exercise of the Water Resources Department’s White Paper and proves how bogus an attempt of face-saving it is, largely on account of coalition political compulsions," a statement from the party on Thursday said.

The party’s reference was to Mr Pawar was more than obvious. The report claims a 5.17 per cent increase in irrigated land in the state in the last ten years, covering most of Mr Pawar’s time as the Irrigation Minister from 1999 to 2009. The NCP leader was at the centre of a major political storm over allegations that thousands of crores were apparently spent on irrigation projects in the state during his tenure as minister but yielded only a 0.1 per cent increased in irrigated land. The state’s auditor had also questioned delays, cost-overruns and poor construction in the projects. Mr Pawar was also accused of over-riding objections by bureaucrats after a change in the tendering process meant he would have to sign off on any contract above Rs. 1 crore.

Leader of Opposition Vinod Tawde of the BJP, accused the NCP of "trying to re-induct (Mr Pawar) into the Cabinet. This is not a white paper, it is a whitewash. The chief minister should keep his word." He had also demanded that a special investigation team (SIT) be formed to probe the irrigation scam.

Earlier this year, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had announced that the government would come out with a white paper on irrigation after the resignation of Mr Pawar. After approval by the state cabinet, it would be tabled in the state legislature during the winter session starting at Nagpur from December 10.