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Anna Hazare on a week-long maun vrat

Michael Gonsalves in Pune

Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Sunday began a week-long maun vrat to protest against Chief Minister Narayan Rane's ''reluctance to initiate action against the state government officials involved in corruption cases.''

The social reformer warned of another indefinite fast from August 9, the Quit India Day, if the government delayed suspension of the officials involved in the Rs 3.26-million drought scandal and the cover up at the ministry level of the malpractices in the Soil-Conservation Department in Ahmednagar district.

Hazare shot to national fame more than a decade ago for his watershed management and rural reconstruction programme which won him the coveted Magsaysay Award. He is credited with transforming the perennially drought-prone Ralegan-Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district, about 85 km east of Pune, into a green belt.

Hazare began his fast on Sunday midnight at his Yadavbaba Temple residence at Ralegan-Siddhi in Ahmednagar. His associates said Hazare, who recently returned from a tour of Madhya Pradesh (Hazare is an advisor to the MP Government on watershed development) had fever since Saturday evening.

About a fortnight ago, the soldier-turned-social-worker had sent letters to Rane, Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, and Chief Secretary Arun Bongirwar, to inform them about his decision to observe a maun vrat if they failed to initiate action against the guilty officials.

Hazare had first made allegations of misappropriation of funds by state officials in 1995-96 when the government had sanctioned Rs 3.26 million for rehabilitation work in rain-hit areas. Hazare had charged that the money was shown spent on regions which had not even received rainfall.

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