Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday accused Opposition parties of spreading false information about the government’s order for recruiting staff on a contract basis, a decision that the Eknath Shinde-led administration has now reversed.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday announced the cancellation of the government order to hire staff through nine private agencies, stating that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government initially made this decision.
Mr. Fadnavis claimed that these decisions regarding contractual hiring were made during the 15-year rule of the Democratic Front (DF) coalition, led by Congress leaders Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan from 1999 to 2014, although the Congress leaders denied this.
GRs (government resolutions) related to contractual hiring were issued when Congress leaders Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan helmed the government during the 15-year rule of the Democratic Front (DF) coalition (1999-2014), Mr. Fadnavis claimed. But the Congress leaders refused the claim.
The decision to revoke the government order came in response to Opposition parties criticising the government over the issue of contract recruitment.
“The GR was right, but the Opposition deliberately spread false propaganda over it. Misunderstanding was created among the youth about this (recruitment) process. Many things were spoken about this GR like people will not get jobs and some will lose their jobs which was incorrect,” Mr. Pawar, who was in Pune to review ongoing projects, said.
He visited the proposed site of the Mutha riverfront development project in Yerawada at 6 am before inspecting an Oxygen Park in Kharadi and a water purification centre in the same area.
When asked why he prefers to visit project sites early in the morning, the Pune district guardian Minister replied: “I undertake early morning visits to review projects to ensure that people are not inconvenienced by my visit. When I visit any location, office-goers and school-going students might face disruptions due to my convoy. Therefore, I believe that early morning visits are more convenient.”