Amruta Fadnavis

MUMBAI/THANE: Amidst a brewing controversy over a government proposal to move salary accounts from private to nationalised banks, the Thane mayor on Friday urged the city’s civic administration to carry out the shift at the earliest.

The development comes days after a statement by state finance minister Jayant Patil that the Shiv Sena-led government was “considering” shifting employee salary accounts from Axis Bank, where Amruta Fadnavis , wife of former CM Devendra Fadnavis holds a senior position. Patil’s statement was seen to perpetuate the impression that Fadnavis had favoured his wife’s employer during his tenure.

Mayor Naresh Mhaske said his own statement was merely aimed at directing the administration to comply with rules for investments. “Government-related accounts should be in nationalized banks," he said. Sena corporator and Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar echoed her party colleague’s refrain saying the BMC, India’s largest civic body by assets, needed to ensure its investments were safe. She said “there is need to think about the best available option” in the light of irregularities in financial institutions. However, she added, “if we decide to shift money from a private bank, it will be from all private banks.”

Amruta Fadnavis said it was obvious the ruling parties were targeting her husband. She said her criticism of the Aghadi regime through tweets had contributed to it. “The government should take criticism positively for betterment instead of adopting such a step,” she said, adding she worked in a back office of Axis Bank and had never been asked by her employer to give references.

Officials said the administration in Thane and Mumbai used accounts in various banks to carry out business, bulk of it through PSU banks. In Thane, salaries are disbursed from Bank of Maharashtra, a PSU bank. Most investments are also parked with PSU banks, said an official. “We have minimal accounts with private or cooperative banks. Just two accounts related to receipts of local body tax money and service taxes are with Axis Bank.”

