MUMBAI: After firm denials of wrongdoing, women and child welfare department minister Pankaja Munde on Friday came up with a subdued but candid admission in the state assembly over the controversial chikki contracts worth Rs 206 crore cleared by her department in a single day. In her written reply during Question Hour in the assembly, Munde said it was “partly true” that the chikki and khichdi deals were made on a rate contract basis though such purchases were banned for contracts worth Rs 1 crore and above.

The opposition had claimed the department should have called for tenders as per the rules.

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Pankaja in her reply also admitted that in some cases, substandard material was found in the chikkis. Now the state government has agreed to recall chikki stocks that were found impure following directives from the chairman of the state legislative council Ramraje Nimbalkar after a debate during Question Hour.

The written reply came a day after the Bombay high court sought a reply from Munde over a public interest litigation seeking action against her in the chikki scam . Along with Munde, the HC has directed to issue notices to chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya, the child development scheme commissioner and seven contractors.

According to Munde, it was “partly true” that the government had decided to abolish the rate contract system. Under this system, the cost of items and the contractor are fixed by the government either through the industry or finance department by inviting tenders. So it is understood that for items which are on the rate contract list, tenders need not be called again.

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She said as per the April 2015 state circular, issued by the BJP-led government, the tender process had to be followed for any deal worth Rs 1 crore and above or if the total annual contract amount was worth Rs 5 crore and above. Later, the government brought down the ceiling for rate contract purchases to Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crore. The reason was that the new BJP-led government wanted to curb corrupt practices.

Munde’s answer stated that it was “partly true” that a contract worth Rs 80 crore was awarded in April 2015 to distribute chikki to children in Anganwadis. According to her, it was also “partly true” that a company that had provided chikki and khichdi of substandard quality was again given a contract. However, while giving details of the contracts, she also stated details of old contracts given to Directorate of Industries’ stores and Suryakanta women entrepreneurs’ cooperative society in the year 2012 and 2013 worth Rs 52 and Rs 23 crore respectively. Interestingly, the question to which Munde replied came from her predecessor Varsha Gaikwad and other Congress, NCP and BJP legislators. Munde has apparently given details of contracts approved during Gaikwad’s tenure.

Vidya Thakur, minister of state for food and civil supplies, said the government would recall all chikki stock if it was found impure. NCP MLC Kiran Pawaskar in the legislative council raised the issue of chikki distributed in 20 districts and said, “In Ahmednagar, a sample of chikki was tested by the Food and Drugs Administration and was found unfit to be eaten. If this is the case, the matter should be taken seriously and all stock withdrawn as it could harm children in rural areas.”

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If the government could ban Maggi, then why not chikki supplied by the Suryakanta society from Sindhudurg (which got one of the contracts), legislators asked. “The government should also destroy chikki stock which is contaminated,” said Pawaskar.

Following the debate, Nimbalkar in his ruling asked the government to recall the chikki stock if it was found contaminated.

It has been alleged that the chikkis supplied had gravel, mud particles and granule stones. The PIL by Sandeep Ahire wants the loss to the public exchequer in the deal to be personally recovered from Munde.

READ ALSO: Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde accused of role in Rs 206-crore scam

