In Maharashtra, domination of the Sharad pawar family over Cooperatives is being challenged, reports Chandran Iyer
People in Maharashtra are “cut up” at the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for two reasons. One is the infamous foot-in-mouth comment by the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar whose crass `urine' remark at a rally to denigrate a farmer who was on hunger strike at Mumbai's Azad Maidan demanding relief from drought, has put the party in a corner. The other and potentially more dangerous - the terrible state of affairs in the state’s powerful cooperative sector which is mainly controlled by the NCP.
Sharad Pawar’s dream of becoming prime minister in a coalition government after the 2014 General Elections stands significantly dented with nephew Ajit Pawar's freewheeling speech at a rally at Indapur where he said, “If there is no water in the dams of Maharashtra, how can we release it? Should we urinate into it? If there is no water to drink, even urinating is not possible”.
While the crowd present there cheered momentarily at Ajit’s crass remarks, NCP supremo and his uncle, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, distanced himself from his nephew, pulling him up publicly at a rally. Ajit, quick to recognize the gaffe, sat on a ‘fast’ to “atone” for his sins, describing it as “One of the worst political blunders of his life.’’
The token repentance fast which Ajit Pawar undertook under media glare may, perhaps, help soothe the frayed nerves of farmers facing an unprecedented drought this season. But what could take a long time to heal – if it does – is the festering wound in Maharashtra’s cooperative sector, well in control of the Pawar clan and its minions.
But this carefully choreographed family rule and utter domination of the state's cooperative sector is under threat for the first time. The one-man demolition army who has taken on the might of Sharad Pawar’s political muscle is Raju Shetty, farmer and independent MP from Hatkangale constituency of Maharashtra who has been snapping at the big man’s heels giving him sleepless nights by mobilizing farmers against him.
Shetty looks prepared to go all the way. He told TSI, “Until a few years ago, people in western Maharashtra regarded Sharad Pawar as messiah of the Cooperative movement. His strangle-hold on the state’s sugar lobby and the Maharashtra State Cooperative Banks made him immensely powerful. But that grip is now slipping as I and my organization are holding rallies and exposing the NCP for what it is – a party more interested in feathering their own nests rather than look at the welfare of farmers”.
Like the David versus Goliath story, Shetty has considerably eroded the domination of Sharad Pawar in western Maharashtra by spearheading a successful agitation for higher sugar-cane prices from sugar cooperatives.
Shetty’s first serious challenge to Pawar came before General Election, 2009. His Swabhimani Paksha party, which was set up the same year, defeated NCP’s Nivedita Mane by 95,000 votes despite a severe fund crunch. It is true though that Shetty has not been able to replicate this success in subsequent elections to local self-government bodies and continues to remain the lone MP from his party.
Says Ashok Kulkarni, top notch consultant to most sugar industries in Maharashtra, “Cooperative sugar factories (CSF) in Maharashtra are the fountainhead of corruption. What is shocking is that the state government doles out sugar factories to MLAs, MLC’s and other political leaders in which 90 per cent of the money invested is that of the public. The CSF and the District Cooperative Banks in Maharashtra often work hand-in gloves as both are under the direct control and tutelage of politicians”.
Since Cooperative sugar factories and Cooperative district banks are not run professionally – their sole existence is to rake in the money – many of them are in a complete mess.
Kulkarni, who has also conducted an in-depth study of corruption in sugar factories, had filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court to inquire into the working of these factories. Based on his petition the high court on December 13, 2010, had asked the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to submit ‘performance audit report’ of management of cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra for the period between April 2007 and March 2010.
In 2006, Kulkarni had written a letter to the Bombay High Court pointing out to wide-spread malpractices in the Cooperative sector. It was turned into public interest litigation (PIL). Among other things, Kulkarni had complained that government was allowing new Cooperative factories to come up in areas where there was no sugarcane available.
Said Kulkarni, “Sugar factories in Maharashtra and District Cooperative banks have more often than not made news for the wrong reasons: corruption, nepotism, favoritism and gross mismanagement. The state is losing hundreds of crores of rupees in subsidies and soft loans which are provided to the Cooperative factories because of mismanagement. Licences are issued for starting factories in areas where enough sugarcane is not available. Several Cooperative sugar factories in the state have shut down or making severe losses while many district cooperative banks have been dissolved”.
The mess appears to be getting worse. For instance the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on May 29, 2012 dissolved the board of directors of the NCP-controlled Sangli District Central Cooperative Bank for rampant irregularities and blatant violation of the Banking Regulation Act. This was done following a recommendation made by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).
People in Maharashtra are “cut up” at the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for two reasons. One is the infamous foot-in-mouth comment by the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar whose crass `urine' remark at a rally to denigrate a farmer who was on hunger strike at Mumbai's Azad Maidan demanding relief from drought, has put the party in a corner. The other and potentially more dangerous - the terrible state of affairs in the state’s powerful cooperative sector which is mainly controlled by the NCP.
Sharad Pawar’s dream of becoming prime minister in a coalition government after the 2014 General Elections stands significantly dented with nephew Ajit Pawar's freewheeling speech at a rally at Indapur where he said, “If there is no water in the dams of Maharashtra, how can we release it? Should we urinate into it? If there is no water to drink, even urinating is not possible”.
While the crowd present there cheered momentarily at Ajit’s crass remarks, NCP supremo and his uncle, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, distanced himself from his nephew, pulling him up publicly at a rally. Ajit, quick to recognize the gaffe, sat on a ‘fast’ to “atone” for his sins, describing it as “One of the worst political blunders of his life.’’
The token repentance fast which Ajit Pawar undertook under media glare may, perhaps, help soothe the frayed nerves of farmers facing an unprecedented drought this season. But what could take a long time to heal – if it does – is the festering wound in Maharashtra’s cooperative sector, well in control of the Pawar clan and its minions.
But this carefully choreographed family rule and utter domination of the state's cooperative sector is under threat for the first time. The one-man demolition army who has taken on the might of Sharad Pawar’s political muscle is Raju Shetty, farmer and independent MP from Hatkangale constituency of Maharashtra who has been snapping at the big man’s heels giving him sleepless nights by mobilizing farmers against him.
Shetty looks prepared to go all the way. He told TSI, “Until a few years ago, people in western Maharashtra regarded Sharad Pawar as messiah of the Cooperative movement. His strangle-hold on the state’s sugar lobby and the Maharashtra State Cooperative Banks made him immensely powerful. But that grip is now slipping as I and my organization are holding rallies and exposing the NCP for what it is – a party more interested in feathering their own nests rather than look at the welfare of farmers”.
Like the David versus Goliath story, Shetty has considerably eroded the domination of Sharad Pawar in western Maharashtra by spearheading a successful agitation for higher sugar-cane prices from sugar cooperatives.
Shetty’s first serious challenge to Pawar came before General Election, 2009. His Swabhimani Paksha party, which was set up the same year, defeated NCP’s Nivedita Mane by 95,000 votes despite a severe fund crunch. It is true though that Shetty has not been able to replicate this success in subsequent elections to local self-government bodies and continues to remain the lone MP from his party.
Says Ashok Kulkarni, top notch consultant to most sugar industries in Maharashtra, “Cooperative sugar factories (CSF) in Maharashtra are the fountainhead of corruption. What is shocking is that the state government doles out sugar factories to MLAs, MLC’s and other political leaders in which 90 per cent of the money invested is that of the public. The CSF and the District Cooperative Banks in Maharashtra often work hand-in gloves as both are under the direct control and tutelage of politicians”.
Since Cooperative sugar factories and Cooperative district banks are not run professionally – their sole existence is to rake in the money – many of them are in a complete mess.
Kulkarni, who has also conducted an in-depth study of corruption in sugar factories, had filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court to inquire into the working of these factories. Based on his petition the high court on December 13, 2010, had asked the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to submit ‘performance audit report’ of management of cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra for the period between April 2007 and March 2010.
In 2006, Kulkarni had written a letter to the Bombay High Court pointing out to wide-spread malpractices in the Cooperative sector. It was turned into public interest litigation (PIL). Among other things, Kulkarni had complained that government was allowing new Cooperative factories to come up in areas where there was no sugarcane available.
Said Kulkarni, “Sugar factories in Maharashtra and District Cooperative banks have more often than not made news for the wrong reasons: corruption, nepotism, favoritism and gross mismanagement. The state is losing hundreds of crores of rupees in subsidies and soft loans which are provided to the Cooperative factories because of mismanagement. Licences are issued for starting factories in areas where enough sugarcane is not available. Several Cooperative sugar factories in the state have shut down or making severe losses while many district cooperative banks have been dissolved”.
The mess appears to be getting worse. For instance the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on May 29, 2012 dissolved the board of directors of the NCP-controlled Sangli District Central Cooperative Bank for rampant irregularities and blatant violation of the Banking Regulation Act. This was done following a recommendation made by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
