No files signed, no certificates issued on day of Ajit Pawar's death: Maharashtra minority department

The clarification comes amid a controversy over the alleged hasty grant of minority status to 75 educational institutions in the days following the death of Ajit Pawar

Mumbai: Maharashtra Minority Development Department has asserted that no new files were digitally signed and no minority status certificates were distributed on January 28, the day Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash.

The clarification comes amid a controversy over the alleged hasty grant of minority status to 75 educational institutions in the days following the death of Pawar, who was handling the Minority Development Department at the time.

Minority status confers significant regulatory benefits on educational institutions, including exemptions from certain provisions of the Right to Education Act, such as the 25 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections, along with grants and greater administrative autonomy in appointments and internal management.

Pawar and four others died in a plane crash in Baramati in Pune district on the morning of January 28.

In a detailed statement posted on X late Monday night, the Minority Development Department said that on January 28, no digital signatures were affixed on any new files or certificates through the department. No certificates were handed over on that day, it maintained.

The department stressed that the entire process of granting minority status is conducted online and in a transparent manner, strictly in accordance with provisions laid down in the Government Resolution dated May 27, 2013. Applications are scrutinised and certificates issued only after district-level verification, it said.

Rejecting reports suggesting irregularities or hurried processing of applications, the department claimed such allegations were "completely baseless" and amounted to a distortion of facts.

The controversy intensified last week after the department's deputy secretary, Milind Padmanabh Shenoy, was removed from his post. The action was taken after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stayed the approvals granted to the institutions.

According to officials, the first minority certificate was allegedly issued at 3.09 pm on January 28 and seven institutions received approvals that day. The total number of approvals rose to 75 within the next three days, prompting questions over the speed of processing.

A high-level inquiry has been ordered to examine how the files were cleared, whether due procedure was followed, and whether any prior suspension on issuing minority certificates had been formally lifted.

The chief minister has sought a comprehensive report on the sequence of events and warned of stern action if any irregularity or procedural lapse is found, a senior official earlier said.

Deputy CM and Minority Development Minister Sunetra Pawar, who was sworn in after her husband Ajit Pawar's demise, had earlier directed officials to probe the matter thoroughly and initiate strict action if wrongdoing is established.