Ajit Pawar sets up panel to probe fund allocation by Beed district planning committee

The panel's probe will cover the administrative approvals granted for projects under the district planning committee for 2023-24 and 2024-25 when Dhananjay Munde, a prominent NCP leader from Beed, was the guardian minister.

Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday set up a three-member inquiry panel to investigate alleged discrepancies in the allocation of Rs 877 crore by the Beed district planning committee when his cabinet colleague Dhananjay Munde was the guardian minister.

Ahead of the state cabinet meeting on Tuesday here, Munde, who is under fire from the opposition over the murder of a sarpanch in Beed, met Ajit Pawar, who heads the NCP. However, details of the meeting were not available.

The panel's probe will cover the administrative approvals granted for projects under the district planning committee for 2023-24 and 2024-25 when Munde, a prominent NCP leader from Beed, was the guardian minister.

According to sources close to Pawar, the committee will review all approved works and scrutinise their technical clearances, commencement orders, and fund allocations in 2023-24 and 2024-25.

The decision about setting up a panel has come after BJP MLA Suresh Dhas levelled allegations against Munde a few days ago, and Pawar had assured a thorough investigation in the matter.

Sources said the inquiry committee has since convened at the Beed district collector's office and sought records of all works undertaken over the past two years.

In a post on X, activist Anjali Damania said Dharashiv deputy collector Santosh Bhor would chair the committee, which will include M K Bhange, additional director of the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, and Jalna district planning officer Sunil Suryawanshi.

She said the team had been tasked with examining the status of approved works, the technical clearances granted to them, and the distribution of funds. The inquiry team must submit its report within a week, as per the directive issued by State Secretary Sushma Kambli.

The panel was set up after Pawar chaired the first meeting of the district planning body on January 30. Following this meeting, a decision was made to investigate the approval of works worth Rs 877 crore undertaken in Beed in the last two years.

The opposition has been mounting pressure for Munde's resignation after the murder of Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, as his close aide Walmik Karad was arrested in an extortion case related to the murder.