NAGPUR:
BJP MLA from Katol
Ashish Deshmukh once again reiterated his position of discontinuing the
winter session of the state legislature in the city from next year. In a discussion organized by Janmanch at Baburao Dhanwate Hall on Saturday, the MLA said, "We all know the rate of progress in Vidarbha has been slow despite holding winter
session in the city. Nagpur has just become a getaway for ministers and bureaucrats in winter."
Last week, Deshmukh had written a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis saying the holding of winter session in the city has become a 'farce' and should end once and for all.
Deshmukh provided data which described the state of affairs in the region. He said, "Out of total appointments to the rank of police sub-inspector, 51% candidates hail from Pune, 8% from Amravati and 4% from Nagpur. Similarly, 46% of sales tax inspectors were appointed from Pune while only 4.69% were from Nagpur. There was an appeal to the state to increase the number of job positions for the region by 25%, but that never happened."
Next, the MLA compared policies for farmers and industries between Maharashtra and neighbouring states. "The government of Telangana allocated Rs 24,000 crore for its irrigation projects while the government here allocated Rs 7,000 crore for the same for the entire state. In
Chhattisgarh, the cost of electricity is Rs 3.5 per unit less than it is being charged here. As a result, more businesses have come up in Chhattisgarh," he said.
"We know 70% of the electricity produced in Vidarbha goes to Western Maharashtra. Our energy minister made a statement saying farmers in the region are without electricity for over 12 hours per day," he added.
"The state has a debt of Rs 4.5 lakh crore and although the CM has tried hard, he has not achieved the desired results. Moreover, we learn of farmer suicides everyday. The CM, energy, finance and agriculture ministers are from Vidarbha and yet there is little progress," said Deshmukh.
Deshmukh dew comparisons between Telangana and Vidarbha saying, "People of Telangana were relentless in their fight and that is why a separate statehood was granted. We need to change our attitude and not be submissive to the administration. There is no point bringing the government here for 10 days so as minsters can enjoy the winter here."
We all know the rate of progress in Vidarbha has been slow despite holding winter session in the city. Nagpur has just become a getaway for ministers and bureaucrats during winter
Representative Image
