Uddhav Thackeray may let Devendra Fadnavis's fellows stay for now

Devendra Fadnavis,

Taking a sympathetic approach towards the 50 interns of the fifth fellowship batch inducted under the previous regime, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is likely to let them complete their 11-month tenure that ends in April-May, even though the Congress and NCP have demanded their immediate dismissal.

The issue came up for discussion at a weekly cabinet meeting and soon turned into a heated debate when Congress and NCP ministers demanded a final decision in the matter. The ministers had alleged in the previous meetings that the BJP-led government had inducted those youth who believe in BJP's ideology and were suited for the party's drive of extending its agenda instead of using their expertise for development programmes of various state-run departments and agencies.

The internship programme, a brainchild of former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, was started in 2015. Annual batches have 50 interns inducted through a process that includes online applications, examination and personal interviews conducted by a committee of senior IAS officers. After exposing them to the government's functioning for a while, the interns are placed in various departments as per their area of interest. Each of them receive a stipend of R45,000. The fifth batch was inducted in July-August last year.

A senior bureaucrat told mid-day that the CM and his cabinet colleagues had been told that the induction process was transparent and senior bureaucrats were engaged in selecting the interns, who have skills to enhance development work through new ideas and an innovative approach.

A senior bureaucrat said, "We have told the cabinet that selection of the fellows was not a single man's wish. We suggested that since the interns' work contracts will end soon, the state should not terminate them now. We said that the government can decide on the further course of action, whether they want to continue the programme in a different format or discontinue it, only after preventing the legal hassles that may arise from terminating the ongoing contracts in the middle of the term."

However, a Congress minister said, "We want to know the CM's decision because we have previously discussed the matter. We demand immediate termination of the programme."

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates