State to buy 2 fancy VIP cars in malnutrition-hit Palghar

Mumbai: Palghar district, not far from Mumbai, may be reeling under malnutrition on an epic scale, but the state governmnet seems more keen on buying swanky cars for official ‘distress’ tours.
A two-page order issued by the general administration department led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on October 17 says the government will allocate Rs 40 lakh to buy two fully automatic cars.
One car will be exclusively for the use of controversial tribal development minister Vishnu Savara, who is also the guardian minister of Palghar.The other will be for VIP officials.
“Each car will cost Rs 20 lakh. We have proposed to reserve one car for Savara, while the other car will be for cabinet members visiting Palghar on official duty,’’ a senior bureaucrat said.
As per the October 17 order, after the formation of Palghar district on June 17, 2014, it had become essential to procure DV (distinguished visitor) cars for the guardian minister and cabinet members visiting the district for official meetings.
A state-level committee then approved the proposal to buy the two cars. One car has already been purchased, while order for the second car has been placed with an agency.
In the wake of the stringent remarks passed by the Supreme Court, the Bombay high court and the National Human Rights Commission over the failure of the state government to tackle malnutrition, a comprehensive action plan to halt malnutrition deaths was expected. Fadnavis did preside over a high-level meeting, but so far no guidelines have been issued.
In fact, alarmed by the growing crisis, governor C Vidyasagar Rao had convened a meeting of the concerned cabinet members and bureaucrats from the departments of tribal development, public health and women and child development and directed them to draft a common action plan to tackle malnutrition.
“We had a series of meetings and discussions, but results are not visible,’’ leader of the opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said.
Vikhe-Patil had already demanded Savara’s dismissal for his failure to stem malnutrition deaths. “He has been representing Palghar for several decades and is a tribal leader himself, but he has failed to tackle malnutrition in his own home town,’’ Vikhe-Patil said.