Suspension of PWD officials demanded for embezzlement of funds in Mumbai

Mumbai: The opposition has demanded suspension of PWD officials of the Mumbai Presidency Division who embezzled funds meant for payment of utility bills of ministers’ bungalows to pay contractors for repairs and maintenance of the bungalows. Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve of the Shiv Sena (UBT) said the engineers and officials responsible should be suspended till the investigation is completed. He demanded a high-level inquiry. Samajwadi Party MP Rais Shaikh said the investigation must be thorough to unravel the extent of illegal misappropriation of funds as the currently known Rs 26 crore embezzled is just the tip of the iceberg. According to officials, the PWD has awarded Rs 26 crore to private contractors for maintenance and repair work on ministers’ bungalows from funds released exclusively for payment of water and electricity bills of these residences. The money was paid from funds totalling Rs 52 crore sanctioned exclusively for clearing electricity and water charges for 36 government bungalows from March 2017 to March 2023. “This kind of misappropriation of money shows the massive collusion between contractors and engineers and officials of the PWD. The state government must suspend the engineers of the Mumbai Presidency Division of the PWD and then continue the investigation. Without suspension of the officials, no investigation has any meaning. I will take up the issue in the coming monsoon session of the state legislature. The expenditure on ministerial bungalows is nothing but fraud,” Danve said. Shaikh said all money spent by the PWD on repairs and maintenance of ministerial bungalows must be audited by third parties. “Most of the repairs and renovations are fake and the bills are all artificially inflated.” “The Mumbai Presidency Division of the PWD seems to have become a hub of corruption, cost escalation and botched work,” Shaikh said. Officials said around Rs 6.2 crore was spent on the water and electricity bills of Varsha, the chief minister’s residence, in the last six years. They said Rs 2.37 crore of this went to contractors for maintenance and repair work. While Rs 2.76 crore was spent on the chief minister’s Sagar residence, Rs 1.47 crore of this went to contractors for maintenance and repair work. NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule posted X: “Gross financial mismanagement and abuse of power by the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra.”

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