The government headed by Devendra Fadnavis also faces absenteeism of its ministers from the important cabinet meetings. Barring CM Devendra Fadnavis who have attended all cabinet meetings rest all do not have a 100% track record. Leading the list of Minister’s in remaining absent from meetings is the Agriculture and Horticulture Minister Pandurang Fundkar followed by Sudhir Mungantiwar, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Pankaja Munde, Sambhaji Nilengenkar- Patil and Rajkumar Badole constituting the top five. This information was provided to RTI activist Anil Galgali by chief Secretary office.
Galgali had filed a RTI query with the chief Secretary office seeking details of the total number of cabinet meetings held by the state government and the attendance of ministers. The Under Secretary and the public information officer Vivek Patil informed Galgali that, since 7th July 2016 to May 2017 a total of 35 cabinet meetings were held. Out of the 23 ministers Barring CM Fadnavis 22 ministers have been absent in some or other cabinet meetings.
Agriculture and Horticulture Minister Pandurang Fundkar remained absent in 11 out of the 35 cabinet meetings, Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar was absent in nine. Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule was absent in nine, Social Justice Minister Rajkumar Badole in eight, Women’s and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde in eight, Labour Minister Sambhaji Nilengenkar- Patil in eight, Food and Civil Supply Minister Girish Bapat in seven, Housing minister Prakash Mehta in seven, Water Reservation and Protocol Minister Ram Shinde in six, Environment minister Ramdas Kadam in six, Pwd Minister Eknath Shinde in five, Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Baban Lonikar in five, Cooperation, Marketing and Textiles Minister Subhash Deshmukh in five, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil in for, Industry Minister Subhash desai in four, Public Health Minister Dr Deepak Sawant in four, Tourism Minister Jay Kumar Rawal in three and Medical Education Girish Mahajan in two. School Education Minister Vinod Tawade, Transport Minister Divakar Raote, Tribual Minister Vishnu Savara and Dairy Development Minister Mahadev Jankar remained absent in only one cabinet meeting out of 35.
The cabinet meetings are held for important issues to properly govern the state and hence it is important that the Minister’s attend all the meetings expressed Anil Galgali.
