Draft:Vijay Kumbhar

• Comment: The subject of this draft has been previously determined to not be notable. As such, any recreation of an article on the topic would be subject to speedy deletion, as has happened once already. Taking Out The Trash (talk) 20:37, 26 January 2024 (UTC)

• Comment: no sources... no article Theroadislong (talk) 12:48, 9 October 2022 (UTC)

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Vijay Kumbhar
[[ Vijay Kumbhar ]] Vijay Kumbhar
Born	Vijay Kumbhar (1962-07-02) 2 July 1962 Karad, Satara, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Journalist/Politician/RTI activist
Years active	1995–present

Vijay Kumbhar (born 2nd July 1962) is an Indian social activist, politician, and journalist known for promoting transparency in administrative affairs and his significant contributions to various social movements. Over the past thirty-five years, Kumbhar has been actively involved in public interest litigation, right to information campaigns, and creating awareness about laws and regulations in public life. He started out as an activist, however, realized that only so much can be done as an activist and ventured into politics.

Career

Putting a tab on confiscation of public properties by powerful people in position through Girish Vyas case which led to resignation of then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Manohar Joshi; he was also vehemently against the Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) Land allotment policy's attempted amendment which was to allow leasing of properties from 30 years to 99 years. From 2014 to 2017, Pune-based RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar ran an open air ‘RTI katta’ every Sunday at the Chittaranjan Vatika, where discussions about the RTI Act were held. Vijay has worked together with NGOs when they benefit the citizens as well as fight against NGOs when they are to the detriment of the people

Journalism

Vijay Kumbhar was involved in the PIL movement and Girish Vyas case. During the 90s, in the era of open economy, Kumbhar was at forefront of the PIL (Public Interest Litigation) movement. Big highlight of that movement was Manohar Joshi's resignation from the Chief Minister post (BJP Shivsena Government) It was the case of illegal shifting of reservation, on a plot of land, earmarked for a school, to favor a builder, whose contacts were with the high and mighty. Plot No 110, Prabhat Road- a 30,000 sq. feet land, which was reserved for a primary school was handed over to builder Girish Vyas, the son-in-law of then Chief Minister Manohar Joshi almost overnight. Within a few months a tall stylish building came up on the plot, with no one objecting to this at any level. Vijay Kumbhar filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court drawing attention to this rampant illegality. The High Court taking an exceptionally, strong stand on this passed structures against the Chief Minister and ordered the builder to demolish the building immediately. The apex court upheld the decision of the high court. It laid an important guideline for protection of public properties in the cities and primary school properties.

Whistle blower- CYG Scam & after effects

Kumbhar was among the first who brought out the financial irregularities in Commonwealth youth games (CYG) in 2008 by filing multiple RTIs. Whole scam was exposed beginning from the case of non-existent helipad for which an amount of Rs. 51 lakhs were spent. Civic activists had demanded that the state government file a First Information Report (FIR) in the alleged irregularities in the CYG, 2008 held in Pune. The demand came after city MP Suresh Kalmadi's, who was a member of parliament in Pune until May 2014, was arrested in the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games scam, although he has never faced trial until now. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) initiated an audit into the Rs 1,345 crore expenses incurred on CYG. The audit was not completed. There were irregularities in the utilization of the CYG games and the state government should file an FIR to start the probe, this point was highlighted by Kumbhar. The Maharashtra government, its sports directorate and the municipal corporations of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad had contributed funds for the mega event held at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi but did not carry out an independent audit.

Blog

Kumbhar's 3-line blog asking 3 questions pointed out financial mismanagement by the DSK group in Pune. Considering DS Kulkarni's social standing, there was skeptism. Politicians, monetary strength, media, higher echelons of society all backed DSK and questioned Kumbhar's motives. He however kept writing systematically about the financial impropriety indulged into by the DSK. His concern was the exploitation of the middle class citizens who had invested their hard earned money having faith in DSK. The matter created a furore. Prominent city newspapers wrote columns supporting DSK. But Kumbhar did not give in to pressure. 90% victims are senior citizens. Today, DSK is facing judicial proceedings behind bars. Only recently in 2021, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Kedar Vanjpe, son-in-law of Pune-based builder Deepak Kulkarni of the DSK group, accused in a ₹2000 crore scam where investors were duped. A good example for those middle class buyers to conduct due diligence before investing into any schemes by known firms.

RTI (Right to Information) Library

Kumbhar aided the opening of the first-ever RTI library in the country at the Pune Municipal Corporation.

Politics

Kumbhar did not stop at just filing applications. He is of the firm belief that democracy is like a social contract. The government and citizens both have to discharge their responsibilities for it to succeed. They are not the government of a political party, but of the people. Aam Aadmi party's founders, Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, are like-minded. They have worked together in the past on multiple RTI (Right to Information) related occasions and Vijay Kumbhar led silent protest against the CBI when Arvind Kejriwal, the then party leader was arrested. He has great respect for social activism, but politics is the tool to implement changes in society. Hence, when he decided to join politics, AAP was the natural choice as Anti-Corruption is the main agenda of the party.