Wednesday’s cabinet meeting was marred by a verbal fight between the relief and rehabilitation minister Patangrao Kadam and home minister R.R. Patil.
According to sources, Mr Patil and Mr Kadam locked horns when the cabinet started a discussion on the relief provided to drought-hit areas. “Mr Patil was severe on the relief and rehabilitation department. He alleged that Tasgaon and Atpadi areas of his hometown Sangli have not received any relief fund from the government despite drought in those areas. He also claimed that government officers posted in these areas were not doing any work,” the source said.
However, the situation became tense after the home minister taunted Mr Kadam saying “Nobody has time to pay attention to people in these areas”.
“Mr Kadam was visibly upset over Mr Patil’s remarks. He retorted saying that one needed to go to drought-hit areas to understand the ground reality,” the source said. “Ministers cannot get accurate information by sitting in their air-conditioned cabins. I am personally monitoring the measures taken in the drought-hit areas. Do not make false claims,” the source quoted Mr Kadam as saying.
However, another minister Madhukar Chavan also supported the home
minister and complained about the shoddy relief work being carried out in his hometown Osmanabad.
According to the source, CM Prithviraj Chavan had to intervene to control the situation. “He suggested that three ministers from Sangli hold a meeting with officers and suggest measures to implement relief work more effectively,” the source said.
Interestingly, many ministers were absent as the decision to hold the meeting was taken by the CM only on Tuesday.
“Though the Assembly session in Nagpur got over last week, many files have still not reached Mumbai. It was expected that there would be no cabinet meeting this week. But the CM announced the meeting at the last minute, which is why some ministers could not attend,” the source said.