Mumbai, July 7 (IANS) Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Jaikumar Gore on Monday in the state council announced the suspension of two engineers from public work departments under the jurisdiction of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Zilla Parishad.

The department engineer and executive engineer were suspended for paying Rs 1.47 crore to the contractor even before the commencement of the construction of the school in Lasur village and the building of the primary health centre at Gurdhanora village from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

The minister, in his reply to questions by Satish Chavan (NCP) and the Leader of the Opposition, Ambadas Danve, said that further action will be taken against the concerned engineers after the completion of the departmental inquiry in two months.

Minister Gore said that an inquiry has been conducted regarding this construction, and the assessment of the work has been recorded in the measurement book for more than the actual work done. Payments have been approved even without photos and test reports of the work. These payments have been made despite the standard operating procedure about when and how the payment should be made.

Meanwhile, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Narahari Zirwal announced that two department officers will be suspended in connection with the supply of substandard edible oil in the tribal-dominated Nandurbar district of North Maharashtra. The suspension of these two officers is being done based on the findings of the department’s inspection of some edible oil samples to be of substandard quality.

He told the state assembly that the department will initiate action for the closure of the concerned company, which has produced and distributed substandard edible oil. He was replying to a question raised by Shiv Sena legislator Amshaya Padvi Sameer Kunawar and Hiraman Khoskar.

During inspection, samples of Mahika brand refined soybean oil and Kamala brand peanut oil were collected for analysis

According to the preliminary report received, these samples were found to be non-conforming as per food safety standards. As the seller appealed, the samples have been sent to the Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, for re-analysis, said Minister Zirwal.

During the year 2024-25, a total of 12 samples of edible oil were tested in the Nandurbar district and out of them, five samples were declared of substandard quality. In two of these cases, action is underway under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the remaining three samples are awaiting the test report from the referral laboratory, he said, adding that strict action will be taken against those violating food safety rules.

–IANS

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