After Pankaja, Vinod Tawde of BJP under lens for fire extinguisher scam

Maharashtra FM says file was not approved, claims conspiracy to defame the government

Maharashtra education minister Vinod Tawde was caught in a controversy over the award of a Rs 191-crore contract for fire extinguishers for government-run schools allegedly without issuing a tender.

Tawde said on Tuesday that there was no scam nor has norms been violated. He made these comments at a hurriedly convened press conference. State finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and cooperation minister Chandrakant Patil were also present.

Tawde said his department had no plans to purchase fire extinguishers without the approval of the state finance department. “On February 15, the finance department told us to not go ahead with the purchases. I have not given a single rupee to any contractor.”

The state finance department had in January this year stopped a Rs 191-crore purchase order issued by Tawde’s ministry for fire extinguishers for government-run schools. It said a Supreme Court order had made the installation of fire extinguishers mandatory only for school buildings more than a floor high. Only Rs 19 crore had been sanctioned for fire extinguishers in schools.

Mungantiwar argued that there was no cause for a controversy. “The finance ministry raised objections, based on Supreme Court guidelines. This is an old file.The education minister himself had stopped the file after the objection.” He claimed  this is a conspiracy to defame the government.

The allegations came days after Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde was accused of awarding contracts for various purchases worth Rs 206 crore on a single day in February without following the mandatory e-tendering process.