SIT must for solving Vidarbha problems: Tawde

Nearly 50 per cent of Vidarbha's problems would be solved automatically once the SIT is set up, he said.

Tawde was addressing a press conference after the entire first week of the winter session of the State Legislature failed to transact much business due to the opposition's belligerent stance on SIT.

He said the demand is reasonable, since wastage of public funds is related to Vidarbha farmers' irrigation problems.

The SIT will find out the truth about how much irrigation potential was created and how much money was utilised actually, he said.

Tawde expressed readiness to allow normal functioning of the House, but on the condition that Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan promises that a SIT would be set up.

Seeing nothing objectionable in repeated adjournments of the House due to opposition'a sloganeering, Tawde said even the Parliament was stalled for 15 days at a stretch and in the end, people were benefited.

He said that while loss due to stalling of Parliament was Rs 12 crore, the amount earned by the government by auctioning spectrum was Rs 12,000 crore.

About his insistence on SIT, he said that since the scam was of a technical nature and experts like Madhavrao Chitale, were needed to find out the truth.

He said that the opposition is open to a judicial enquiry, but this will depend on terms and references of the Commission.

He refuted allegations that the opposition wasted the House's time and said that they are even ready to extend the winter session if necessary.