The Gavankars

The current scam of Adarsh society may be a surprise for many but not for people like me who have seen the power centers at Maharashtra Mantralaya from close quarters due to various reasons. In one of the earlier jobs,I was handling government vertical and practically everyday I used to be at Mantralaya..for some or the other reason.I could see poor common people lining outside the gate for visit passes and big builders directly getting entry to minister's cabins. The whole system of administration is corrupt.The reason is simple..the electoral politics...there is this vicious cycle which starts from the day a candidate wants to stand for an election.He needs to reach many people within his constituency and also win the election.Hence he needs to spend a lot of money on campaigning and also for "ensuring" that people who vote for "note" are on his side.Now when he gets elected,he needs to recover that money he spent.And how he would earn that money?Simple.....

The existing Mumbai airport has been saturated with air traffic and the city really needs a second airport. The site for the second airport was marked at Navi Mumbai in the 90s.Today, we are in 2010, yet there is no sign of any work starting on the proposed site. Reason? The environmental clearance by Central MoeF, headed by Jairam Ramesh is not in yet. It is amusing to see the news items related to this second airport at New Mumbai. The government of Maharashtra is controlled by a Congress CM, the country is ruled by a Congress PM, the Minister for Environment and Forests is again a Congressman; then what's the issue? The key lies in looking into the reality of New Mumbai as an area. New Mumbai today is controlled by the politically influential Ganesh Naik, who is also a Maharashtra Cabinet Minister. Now Mr. Naik is not from the Congress; he is from the NCP which is Sharad Pawar's party. In Navi Mumbai, Ganesh Naik and his family control all the assembly seats, the Parliament...