'Legislation soon to curb attack on public property'

Stating that the government cannot continue to be a mere spectator in cases of attacks on public property, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil said the government would bring about a legislation in its next session that will impose stiff penalties against the offenders.

While replying to the Shiv Sena-BJP sponsored debate on law and order situation in the state, Patil said recent agitations over load-shedding had damaged public property worth Rs15 crore.

Expressing a firm resolve to weed out corruption in the Customs department, Patil announced a prize to anyone who exposed disproportionate property of any corrupt government official. If the person manages to expose property worth Rs1 crore then he will be rewarded with a prize of Rs5 lakh.

Action against Latur board

The State shall take action against officials of the Latur SSC Division Board who were found guilty of increasing marks in lieu of monetary considerations from students, stated Minister for School Education, Vasant Purke. While replying to a debate raised by Shiv Sena's Subhash Desai, Purke said a CID inquiry will be constituted into the incident. It was found that moderators charged Rs1,000 for each mark increased. While moderators even offered to wipe out the wrong answers, and allowing students to rewrite their answers, the board officials made available the bar code number of answer papers for Rs20,000.

Meeting on fenny

The state shall hold a meeting within a week to decide upon a policy for producing alcoholic drinks from fruits, flowers and grain, said Minister for State Excise Ganesh Naik. The meeting shall also decide upon waiving state excise duty on fenny produced from cashewnut fruit in the state. When Opposition Leader Ramdas Kadam pointed out that Konkan farmers were shelling out Rs5 excise per box of cashewnut being sent to Goa for fenny processing, Revenue Minister Narayan Rane assured that he along with the State Excise Minister would ensure local processing of fruits, including cashewnut.

Property transfer case

Deputy CM R R Patil said the Crime Branch shall probe the transfer of property by one Sujit Kumar Solomon, a person not related to the trust that runs the Hume High School and Junior College at Byculla, without any trustees knowledge.