Mumbai: Amid uproar in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly over sensational honeytrap allegations, Minister of State for Home Affairs Yogesh Kadam on Thursday firmly denied any official confirmation regarding the matter.

Reacting to Congress leader Nana Patole’s claims, Kadam said, “There has been no official confirmation so far. No complaint has been filed at any police station. The reports in the media appear completely baseless. This seems like an attempt to defame the government. If anyone has evidence, they should present it, politics should not be played through rumours.

Nana Patole Raises Honeytrap Issue In Assembly

The controversy erupted on Wednesday during Zero Hour when Congress MLA Nana Patole alleged in the Assembly that senior IAS officers and cabinet ministers were being targeted in a honeytrap operation. According to Patole, this may have resulted in the leak of confidential state information.

“There is growing concern that classified information from Maharashtra has been accessed through a systematic honeytrap. Reports suggest involvement of senior officials and ministers. If this has reached anti-national hands, it’s a direct threat to state security,” he said.

Patole demanded that the government issue a clarification in the House by the end of the day, warning that the Opposition would otherwise intensify its agitation. Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar acknowledged the matter and stated that the government should take note.

Outside the House, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule yesterday commented that the Home Department and police authorities may already be examining the claims. However, Yogesh Kadam’s statement today marked the first official government rejection of the charges.

Meanwhile, Opposition leaders alleged that several top officials had been filmed in compromising positions at a luxury hotel in Nashik. They claimed the footage was being used for blackmail and that at least 72 names had surfaced in preliminary findings. However, these claims remain unverified, and no formal complaints have been lodged.

Mumbai: In a tragic incident on Wednesday, a 40-year-old differently-abled woman allegedly died by suicide by jumping from the 16th floor of her apartment in the New Bandra Government Colony today at 3 PM. The deceased, Sheetal Pawar, lived with her husband Satish Pawar, a government employee with the Bombay High Court, in flat number 1605.

According to Kherwadi police, Satish was present inside the flat at the time of the incident. However, no suicide note was recovered from the scene. Preliminary investigation has revealed that Sheetal was physically challenged and unable to walk, which may have contributed to her mental distress.

The police are continuing their probe from all possible angles. Satish Pawar is also being questioned as part of the investigation.

Mumbai: A new Certificate Course in Legal Framework & Discipline Management has been launched under the Labour Department Me. Lokhande Maharashtra Labour Institute, the state’s only educational institution specializing in labor studies.

This course, designed for industry and establishment officials and employees, aims to equip them with skills in handling legal issues and discipline management within organizations.

According to Labour Minister Akash Fundkar, this course will significantly reduce the burden on courts by addressing many discipline-related issues at the establishment level.

“With trained human resources in legal and discipline management, most cases of misconduct will be resolved within companies, thus relieving the courts of their workload,” Fundkar said during the inauguration of the course.

The event, held at Nariman Bhavan, was attended by several key figures including Principal Secretary of the Labour Department I.A. Kundan, Director of the Institute Roshani Kadam-Patil, Under Secretary Deepak Pokle, Under Secretary Swapnil Kapadnis, and Deputy Director Dr. Atul Naubade.

The institute, operating in Mumbai and Nagpur, offers postgraduate degrees, diplomas, and Ph.D. programs in labor studies. As part of a new academic policy, the previously offered postgraduate degree has been revamped and renamed to Master of Human Capital Management and Employee Relations (MHCM&ER), starting from the academic year 2023-24, under the affiliation of Mumbai University and Nagpur University.

The new policy, introduced in 2020, recommends short-term skill-based courses to address the lack of trained personnel in handling workplace discipline cases.

Currently, many such issues escalate directly to courts due to the shortage of trained officers within organizations. The new course has been developed to ensure that establishments have trained officers who can handle these cases internally.

Course Details:

. Duration: 4 months

. Modules: 4

. Classes: Saturdays or Sundays

. Eligibility: Graduates from any field

The course includes practical training; online classes are not available at present. The course is credit-based, and successful candidates will receive a certificate from the department.

Minister Fundkar emphasized that the course would play a crucial role in improving industrial relations and reducing the workload on the judiciary, while enhancing the overall efficiency of organizations in the state.