The Shiv Sena may have lost a steadfast group of supporters in this election. Mumbai’s iconic dabbawalas may not vote for the party, which they claim has not fulfilled its promise of providing free or affordable houses in the last five years. The association of dabbawalas has announced that it will stand with the party that will solve their problem.
“Uddhav Thackeray had called us for a meeting where we had presented to him the problems faced by Mumbai’s dabbawalas due to unavailability of houses and their exorbitant prices, which we cannot pay. He had promised us that the issue would be resolved soon with the Chief Minister’s help. Five years are over. Nothing has moved,†said Subhash Talekar, president of Mumbai Dabbawala Association.
“Mumbai belongs to Marathis, who account for just 22% of the city’s population. We too may have to return to our villages, just like the mill workers did. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka make special efforts to support their people. Why can’t we do it in Maharashtra?†Mr. Talekar asked.
He said the proposal to provide free or affordable housing to dabbawalas was first moved in 2004 when Sushilkumar Shinde was the chief minister.
He had called for a meeting and asked us which plot we wanted. We had given an entire plan to him. Since then, we have been following up with every chief minister,†he said. At one point, the association thought the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Paty (BJP) government in the State would solve the pending issue, with late BJP leader Gopinath Munde too promising the association it would solve the issue on a priority basis.
“We are ready to approach even Prime Minister Narendra Modi as we worked as the ambassadors of the cleanliness campaign. We hope he will give us justice, just like the housing issue of mill workers was solved,†he said.