Government to respond to question at the end of the budget session
The fire that gutted the stage at the event
The Congress took on the government in the lower house on Friday, demanding to know why the controversial event management company Wizcraft was hired for the Magnetic Maharashtra event despite an FIR being filed against it for an earlier event. In February 2016, a major fire had devastated the stage of a musical programme organised by Wizcraft at the Make in India event on the Girgaum seafront.
Accepting Congress MLC Sanjay Dutt’s query, Council Chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar directed the government to explain. Dutt asked why a blacklisted company was awarded a contract for such a major international event. “Was there pressure from some quarters or some other consideration that influenced the government to put such a key event at risk by assigning it to a blacklisted and charge-sheeted company? The chief minister, too, had given a commitment in the council soon after the fire that Wizcraft would never ever be considered for another government event,” he said.
mid-day had also questioned earlier this year, in its report Make In India Fire: Vendors Still Awaiting Dues Two Years After Blaze, on Feb 14, why Wizcraft was brought into service yet again and reported that the company hadn’t paid small business operators who had lost their equipment in the fire. Dutt said the fire incident at Girgaum Chowpatty had brought disrepute to the government and raised questions about its capacity to hold such an event. “Was there no other company available or competent to do the job?” he asked. The government will make a statement on the issue before the budget session ends.
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