Properties worth over Rs. 177 crore belonging to graft-tainted government servants were attached this year in Maharashtra, where the most corrupt officials were from Revenue Department, data compiled by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) showed.

The data showed that the most corrupt officials in Maharashtra Government belonged to Revenue Department followed by Public Works department (PWD).

The BJP-led government, since January, has permitted ACB to attach properties of 52 government officials who had amassed wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income. Of these, 10 officials were from Revenue Department and seven from PWD.

The total market value of the attached properties belonging to graft-tainted officials of all departments was Rs. 177,15,88,039.

Of the eight ranges the ACB operates in, properties having the highest market value were attached in Thane (Rs. 157,35,64,488) followed by Mumbai range (Rs. 4,68,40,898).

“Once the ACB gets an authority letter from the government, it immediately attaches property of the official concerned. It then approaches the Small Causes Court and if it finds there indeed is a case of disproportionate assets, regular hearing is conducted,” an official from the Home Department said.

Properties are attached till the case is over to prevent officials from selling or transferring them to someone else’s name, he added.

Three-fifth of the beneficiaries of the Maharashtra-sponsored Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Aarogya Yojana, which offers cash-less treatment in the city, have been forced to make out-of-pocket payments during hospitalisation, reveals a study.

In spite of the fact that the state had paid the premium for 2.19 crore households in Mumbai, which is 85 per cent of the city’s population in 2014-15, as many as 63 per cent of the beneficiaries had to make out-of-pocket payments for various services at hospitals, says the study by Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

The study has also found that 88.23 per cent of the beneficiaries from BPL families of the city reported paying for diagnostics, medications, or consumables.

The out-of-pocket expenditure on diagnostics and medicines was quite substantial in absolute terms as well as a proportion of the total payments stood at 39.2 per cent and 38.7 per cent, respectively, the white paper prepared by two professors at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences–Priyanka Rent and Soumitra Ghosh–says.

Around 61 per cent of the beneficiaries in the city accessed services from private hospitals and 39 per cent from public hospitals.

At private hospitals, of those who availed the services, 63 per cent were orange ration cardholders (non-BPL families) and only 37 per cent were yellow ration cardholders (BPL families), it said, adding “a reverse trend in public hospital was observed wherein 53 per cent of the beneficiaries were yellow ration card holders and 47 per cent were orange ration card holders.

“For most BPL families, the cost incurred was high and resulted in further worsening of their financial conditions which was caused by factors like transport, food, travel and loss of daily wages, says the study.

According to the findings, most patients resorted to paying from their pockets due to various factors like lack of time to do paperwork, unawareness of the scheme, lack of cooperation from hospital staff or the procedure not being covered under the scheme.

Cancelled Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Maharashtra will have to return the Revenue department land they have acquired, but they can keep the land bought from farmers, officials said.

According to an official from Industries Department, more than 24,000 hectares were acquired for SEZs by industrial houses in the state.

The previous Manmohan Singh government had approved 139 SEZs in Maharashtra during its 10-year rule at the Centre, he said.

Land measuring 24,784 hectares, both public and private, was bought for the SEZs by various industrial houses in the state. These lands are still in their custody, though the licenses of 70 SEZs were either cancelled or their promoters quit the scheme, after a change in policy by the central government, he said.

In the remaining 69 SEZs, the businesses have not yet been set up on the land acquired, the official said.

Apurva Chandra, Principal Secretary (Industries), said, “If the land has been acquired from farmers, it will remain with the entrepreneur for whom the SEZ was approved. If the land is acquired from the Revenue department, the state will take it back in case the SEZ is cancelled.”

Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse admitted that most of the industrial houses have not returned huge tracts of land to the original owners or the government.

“Once the UPA government changed its SEZ policy, several industrial houses expressed their unwillingness to continue in the SEZ scheme,” he said.

A rule framed by the Revenue Department states that the land acquired by industrialists from farmers should be returned to them in case they fail to start their ventures on it within 10 years.

The state has given sops like exemption from paying stamp duty and local body taxes for setting up SEZs.

Maharashtra Government has not spent even a single rupee on advertising and promoting the Right to Information (RTI) Act, touted as a powerful tool in curbing corruption and improving governance, according to an RTI reply.

In reply to an RTI query filed by activist S B Repale, the General Administration Department (GAD) of the state clarified, “The government has not spent any money on account of advertising the RTI.”

The reply given by R S Arwari, the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the RTI cell also said they do not have a compiled data about the penalty imposed on the erring PIOs.

Criticising the government for its “lackadaisical approach”, Repale said, “Every public-oriented scheme is popularised. Many times it is even done with more than necessary budget. But, it is not so in case of RTI. How indifferent government has been towards this important Act.”

Another noted RTI activist, Anil Galgali, also slammed the government for not doing anything to make the Act popular.

Response to Galgali’s RTI query earlier this year had revealed that 15 ministers of the BJP-led government in Maharashtra, had collectively spent Rs two crore to refurbish their offices.

“This shows the mindset of the government. They can waste common taxpayers’ money on luxury, but cannot spend even a single rupee on popularising the RTI…This is because, people in the government know very well that if RTI becomes popular, it will blow the lid of their misdeeds,” Galgali said.

Another RTI activist Vihar Durve said, “Maharashtra figures among the top states where most number of RTI activists are killed or attacked. Besides, two Information Commissioners in the state were recently sacked. Now, government must act revive this ailing commission.

BJP president Amit Shah sought blessings of his spiritual guru Rajyashsurishwarji Maharaj at a function in suburban Santacruz.

Shah participated in a ceremony, organised at Kunthunath Jain temple, to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Shrimad Vijay Vikramsurishwarji Maharaj, the guru of Rajyashsurishwarji.

“Guru Rajyashsurishwarji Maharaj has been Amit (Shah)’s guru and he sought his blessings and prayed for him to live longer,” said Mumbai unit BJP spokesperson Yogesh Verma.

A number of Jain organisations such as Guru Vikram Janma Shatabdi Samiti, Jain Swayamsevak Mandal and Jain Alpasankhyak Seva Sansthan also took part in the programme organised in the suburb.

BJP’s city unit president Ashish Shelar, MLAs Raj Purohit and Mangalprabhat Lodha, Sanjay Shah, member of Jain minority development committee and others were present on the occasion.

Sanjay Shah, vice president of Jain Alpasankhyank Seva Sansthan, said, “At this remarkable occasion, our association has pledged to bear all the household expenses, including food and medical expenses of 100 Jain families for 365 days”.

“We have moved forward with small steps to serve humanity and hope that it would be a stepping stone for like-minded associations,” he added.

Verma said the initiative taken by Jain Alpasankhyank Seva Sansthan is noble and BJP supports this initiative.

“If everybody follows the sermons of Lord Mahavirji, then all the world will be so blissful and there would not be any mark of terrorism,” he added.