HVK Archives: Rajyaguru wrote the letter
Rajyaguru wrote the letter - The Indian Express
Express News Service
()
23 July 1997
Title: Rajyaguru wrote the letter
Author: Express News Service
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: July 23, 1997
The letter written by a cabinet minister to Chief Minister Shankersinh
Vaghela, alleging corruption in the recent transfers of deputy collectors
has kicked up a controversy and generated considerable heat on Tuesday.
The disclosure of the identity of the letter's author on Tuesday gave new
dimension to the whole controversy. The minister, who dashed off the letter
to Shankersinh Vaghela, was identified as Minister for Ports Umesh Rajyaguru.
The identity of the minister surfaced when a reporter look out a photocopy
of the letter, and handed it over to Industries minister Dilip Parikh in
the presence of other journalists.
"I strongly feel that the minister should not have written such a letter to
the chief minister. If Rajyaguru has had any problem with officials, he
should have discussed it with the chief minister," Parikh said.
Parikh, who is second-in-command in the ministry, said that though he
viewed the matter as serious, the letter-writing could not be viewed as
"amounting to indiscipline".
Parikh said he would discuss the matter with the chief minister, "We will
also inquire who leaked the letter and how," he said.
Vaghela had recently set up a two-matter committee of Parikh and Revenue
Minister Atmaram Patel to look in to ministers' grievances and also verify
changes of corruption.
Rajyaguru is also reported to have sent a copy of his letter to two of the
chief minister's trusted men, Chiman Shukla and Narsinh Padhiyar and
chairman of the programme implementation committee Vishnu Pandya.
In the two-page letter, Rajyaguru alleged that certain officials in the
chief minister's office (CMO) has minted money through transfers of some
officers in the revenue department.
"Certain officers attached to your office and official residence do not
have a good record and that they have been including in rampant corruption,
tarnishing not only your image but also that of the government," the
minister alleged, demanding stem action.
He said he had even been denied access to the chief minister on telephone.
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