Maharashtra minister Munde embroiled in Rs.2 bn scam

Mumbai: Maharashtra’s Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde was embroiled in a controversy involving alleged irregularities in awarding contracts worth Rs.206 crore (Rs.2.06 billion) with the Congress demanding a CBI probe in the matter. The minister -- daughter of union minister Gopinath Munde who died in a road accident in New Delhi last year -- is accused of doling out the multi-crore-rupee contracts through multiple Government Resolutions (GRs) on a single day (February 13) instead of adopting the e-tendering or tender route. Among the allegations against Munde are irregularities in awarding contracts for workbooks for students, water filters, growth monitoring machines for malnourished kids, medicines and ‘chikkis’ (sweets cookies with nuts and dry fruits in a jaggery base). Presently in the US, Munde rubbished all allegations in an email statement and claimed that some of her dynamic decisions as minister to reduce corruption have upset some “money-minded bunch of people”. ister Arvind Kejriwal said after the budget presentation. In its maiden full budget, tabled by state Finance Minister Manish Sisodia, the Aam Aadmi Party government allocated Rs.9,836 crore to education -- more than double the amount earmarked during the previous fiscal. While 50 schools will be developed as model schools, 236 new schools have been planned, Sisodia said. The education sector was followed by the health sector with the Kejriwal government earmarking Rs.4,787 crore for it -- 45 percent more than the previous year’s allocation. The government plans to remodel and upgrade 11 existing hospitals, which will add 4,000 more beds in the next two years.