Ashok Chavan favoured party functionaries' in mining land allotment?

Beleaguered Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, in the eye of a storm for alleged favouritism in Adarsh Housing Society scam, now faces a new charge—that prime land was allocated to the kin of party functionaries during his tenure as industry minister.

Amol Thakre, son of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Manikrao Thakre, and Praveen Kaswar, son of Yavatmal Congress MLA Wamanrao Kasawar are the two beneficiaries of allotment of 425 acres land for mining lime stone in Vidarbha during the tenure of Chavan as industry minister in 2008, according to information obtained by RTI activist Vilas Wankhede from district mining officer in the district collectorate.

The land was alloted in Zari taluka of Yavatmal district, close to Anil Ambani's Reliance Cementation Plant, Wankhede said today.

The land was alloted in Dongargaon village. The area is rich in lime stone and dolomite.

Industry big wigs like Lloyd Steel and state-owned Maharashtra State Mining Corporation (MSMC), whose financial standings are worth over Rs500 crore, had also applied for land there, the RTI activist said.

Thakre and Kaswar had produced solvency certificates of a meagre Rs1.5 lakh and Rs four lakh respectively.

Manikrao Thakre said his son had followed due procedure before applying for the land.

Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti president Kishore Tiwari today alleged there was an illegal land allotment of 1000 hectares in the reserved forest area in Yavatmal distirict which is worst hit by farmers' suicides.

The land was alloted to Anil Ambani's Reliance Cementation Pvt. Ltd around villages Chanakha, Nimdeli, Gubri and Koregaon in Yavatmal district tribal belt, the Samiti claimed.

A delegation of farmers under the Samiti banner had met Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on October 12, 2009, Tiwari said, adding she had assured them she would look into the issue.