Maharashtra govt okays opening accounts in Mumbai Bank for disbursal of its employees' salaries

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The Maharashtra Government on Thursday gave its approval for opening accounts for the disbursal of salaries and allowances of its employees at the Mumbai District Central Cooperative (MDCC) Bank, which is controlled by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pravin Darekar, reported news agency PTI.

Darekar, the chairman of MDCC Bank, also known as Mumbai Bank, is a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council and is considered to be close to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Fadnavis, an official release issued by the state government said.

The government said state-run public sector undertakings (PSUs) can also use MDCC Bank for making their deposits, PTI reported.

Earlier, the Maharashtra cabinet had greenlighted a proposal to allot land in Mumbai to MDCC Bank for the construction of a training centre for the cooperative sector.

The cabinet met for the first time in the New Year on Thursday, PTI reported.

During the meeting, a discussion also took place on the 'e-cabinet' proposal, on the lines of e-office. It contemplates that the drafts of proposals to be placed before the cabinet will be provided on tablets, so that the use of paper is curbed.

The cabinet also decided to allocate a unique identification number to every infrastructure project in the state in order to avoid duplication of work and facilitate better coordination among various agencies.

Later, while speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting in Mumbai, Fadnavis said that the state government is implementing a security system for the safety of the Mantralaya, the secretariat.

"We are creating a security system for the safety of the Mantralaya... Under this, every person who comes to the Mantralay will be given a pass. When the person leaves, he/she will have to return the pass," CM Fadnavis told reporters.

Before the meeting, Fadnavis took a review of the security arrangements at Mantralaya in south Mumbai, with senior officials of the home department and the police force, ANI reported.

He reviewed the security measures at Mantralaya along with Deputy CM Eknath Shinde during a meeting.

"Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department, Director General of Police, Mumbai Police Commissioner and other senior officers of the Home Department were present in this meeting," CMO Maharashtra posted on X.

(With ANI and PTI inputs)