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No horsing around: CM Thackeray cancels contract of Guj firm for international horse fair

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 04:38:20 +0000

After Uddhav Thackeray emerged as the dark horse in the Maharashtra elections, he has made sure to send most of BJP’s approved projects back to the stable.

In a first significant reversal, the newly formed Maha Vikas Aghadi state government has ordered the cancellation of a Rs. 321 crore contract awarded to a Gujarat based event management company Lallooji and Sons for organizing an international horse fair that came under the scanner for ‘serious financial irregularity’, The Indian Express reported.

The state-run Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) had entered into an arrangement with Ahmedabad’s Lallooji and Sons on December 26, 2017 to “conceptualise, design, execute, manage and operationalize” the SarangkhedaChetak festival in Nandurbar on a turnkey basis.

The company had previously partnered with the UP government and Gujarat government in conceptualizing and designing the venue of the KumbhMela and the RannUtsav.

However, on the day swearing-in of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government, the state tourism department, followed orders from Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta for an “immediate cancellation” of the contract.

“The agreement and the Expression of Interest that was floated was entered into without the government’s sanction. As it isn’t as per the Centre’s norms as well, it amounts to a serious financial irregularity,” said Under Secretary (Tourism) S Lambhate to The Indian Express.

Organised every December, the SarangkhedaChetak Festival is said to be one of the oldest horse fairs in India. In November 2017, JaikumarRawal, the then chief of the MTDC planned to promote the event on a larger scale. The corporation then floated a tender to select an event management agency in the same month and selected Lallooji and Sons from three bidders.

According to the contract between MTDC and Lallooji and Sons, Rs. 321 crore was to be spent on organizing and marketing the festival from 2017 – 18 to 2026 – 27. The MTDC further committed to spend Rs 75.45 crore (inclusive of taxes) as viability gap fund (VGF) to the contractor over these ten years.

However, in September, the office of the Principal Accountant General flagged an audit objection, alleging that “excess expenditure had been paid to the firm.” This year, in May, the planning department of the state sounded an alarm regarding the release of the VGF.

“There is no tourism policy to grant such VGF in Maharashtra,” the department stated. Further, it said that “executing an agreement and committing to the payment on the state’s behalf without taking prior approval from the state government or the cabinet was a serious financial irregularity”.

The request of the post-facto sanction of the VGF was questioned and the NCP and Congress had, in the monsoon session of the legislature raised allegations of wrongdoing against Rawal.

This comes after the new M’tra government has withheld payments of several projects that were green-lit by then CM Devendra Fadnavis. Republic World reported that the projects under review are – Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Corridor (Rs. 46,000 crores), South Mumbai – Western Suburb Connector (Rs. 12,000 crores), Bandra – Versova Sea Link (Rs. 7000 crores) and Thane Creek Bridge (Rs. 800 crores) among others.

The government has also ordered a review of the ambitious bullet train project for which the foundation had been laid by Japanese Prime Minister SHinzo Abe and PM NarendraModi. The project had faced stiff opposition from farmers and tribals whose land was supposed to go under for the same.

Uddhav Thackeray has also withdrawn cases against all protestors protesting the Rs. 3 trillion Nanar Oil Refinery and petrochemicals complex in Ratnagiri, reported the Free Press Journal. He is also reported to decide the fate of Rs 1 lakh croreJaitapur nuclear power project in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district. The Uddhav Thackeray-led MahaVikasAghadi government will also review off budget borrowings of Rs 2 lakh crore taken by its undertakings on infra and development projects.

Not only this, the leaders of the MahaVikasAghadi have also demanded the immediate release of the activists wrongly jailed in the BhimaKoregaon matter.

Looks like CM Thackeray is on a run to rein the free hand given by the Centre to the then Maharashtra state government that left hem horsing around with public money. Whether his decisions are for the genuine fostering public interest or is he just chomping at the bit to put down the BJP is yet to be seen.

MahaVikasAghadi bats for release for BhimaKoregaon activists

Maha CM orders withdrawal of FIRs against Aarey protesters

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Maha Vikas Aghadi bats for release for Bhima Koregaon activists

Mon, 02 Dec 2019 13:32:35 +0000

On Monday, after the Uddhav Thackeray led Maharashtra government decided to review the Aarey and Bhima Koregaon cases, state NCP leader Jitendra Awhad among others have requested the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to withdraw the cases against rights activists in the BhimaKoregaon matter.

आरे चे आंदोलन करणारे सुटले …. #भिमाकोरेगाव मध्ये खोटे गुन्हे दाखल केले मागच्या सरकारनी
आता ह्या माझ्या सरकारनी ते गुन्हे मागे घ्यावेत @OfficeofUT @Jayant_R_Patil
होय … हे आपले सरकार …#MahaVikasAghadi

— Dr.Jitendra Awhad (@Awhadspeaks) December 1, 2019

On January 1, 2018 during the Elgar Parishad, some elements –against the gathering of historic import to Dalits– incited violence against the Dalits at the commemoration of the battle of BhimaKoregaon that had taken place in 1818 between the East India Company and the Peshwas of the Maratha confederacy. The clash claimed the life of one person and injured many others. After a probe in the matter was launched, the Maharashtra police picked up five activists branding them ‘urban naxals’ alleging them to be part of a plot assassinate PM Modi in a ‘Rajiv Gandhi type’ attack.

The activists picked up were Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao among other accused – Shoma Sen, Surendra Gadling, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale and Mahesh Raut. Gautam Navlakha is still being targeted. Before these arrests there had been the arrests of Shoma Sen and others.

Though there were cases launched against Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote, the men accused of orchestrating the violence, they were put on ice by the BJP government. All of the rights activists accused in the Bhima Koregaon case have been in custody for the past year or under house arrest and their bail applications have continuously been filibustered by the state.

Now that the Shiv Sena – NCP – Congress alliance has come to power in the State, Jitendra Awhad, NCP; Abu Azmi, SP; Manoj Jhadu, RJD and CPI leader D Raja have appealed the new CM Uddhav Thackeray to close the BhimaKoregaon case and bring relief to the activists.

It is a question of protecting the interests of activists who’re fighting for the interests of the marginalized people: D. Raja, CPI leader tells TIMES NOW over @NCPSpeaks’ & @samajwadiparty’s demand for the release of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. pic.twitter.com/8pgP6j9o3o

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) December 2, 2019

Bhima Koregaon case. Aghadi netas Abu azmi make a new appeal, @NCPspeaks & @samajwadiparty wants ‘activists’ freed.

. pic.twitter.com/rGxVvmKrHI

— Srikanth (@srikanthbjp_) December 2, 2019

There are a lot ‘exaggerations’ in the Bhima Koregaon violence case: @manojkjhadu, MP, RJD tells TIMES NOW over @NCPSpeaks’ & @samajwadiparty’s demand for the release of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. pic.twitter.com/k73N4XZaFF

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) December 2, 2019

Abu Azmi has said that the government will coordinate with Sharad Pawar to bring the truth to light while CPI leader D Raja has said that the move is important to protect the interests of activists who are putting their lives on the line by fighting for the interests of marginalized people.

The Bhima Koregaon matter turned out to be a saffron conspiracy according to the findings of the Rashtra Seva Dal, a social welfare organization working in the field on Dalit rights. More recently, another shocking fact came to the fore. The infamous WhatsApp spyware row that shook its users worldwide, was found to be targeting Bhima Koregaon activists. It was alleged that the Union government had used the Pegasus software to hack the phones of these activists to gain information that could sabotage their cause to free the wrongly accused rights activists.

It has been more than a year that these activists have been languishing in jail now while the real Hindutva brandishing culprits of divisiveness roam free. Will the strong persuasion of the Aghadi leaders push CM Thackeray to take the step towards the release of the rights activists and establish itself as a secular, liberal and democratic government?

Chronology

Several of the accused have refuted the charges against them. But the court seems to go by the police’s version with scant regard to what petitioners are saying.

The following considerations may be taken for what they are worth:

Justice PB Sawant, one of the organizers of the Bhima-Koregaon ‘Elgar Parishad’ event on 1st January 2018, in an interview, testified that “For years these pilgrims had been going to Bhima Koregaon, no incident happened. Why did it happen last year only? Our sources tell us that these two people (Bhide and Ekbote) were working there at least two months before the violence because they knew many people were going to come because of the 200th anniversary.

This government wants to protect the Hindutva forces. They have been consistently trying to protect Hindutva activists who had indulged in violence. No Maoists were involved in the program and the activists had been arrested because they criticised the government.

Why did the Investigating Officer and courts not pay attention to the above statement by a respected judge, as a point of concern?

Various fact-findings took place, the most prominent amongst them was one conducted at the behest of Pune Rural IG, Vishwas Nangare Patil, wherein the ex-mayor of Pune was part of the team and visited many places and submitted its report on January 20, 2018. Summarizing the report, we find the following chronological events narrated in the report. Note the careful planning by communal forces.

On December 16, 2017, one person namely Kaustubh Kasture had posted on Facebook that there would be riots on January 01, 2018. This person supports Sambhaj iBhide and Milind Ekbote.

On December 30, 2017, Milind Ekbote took a meeting in Bhima Koregaon, where he decided to treat January 01, 2018 as a black day and ensure bandh all across the area.

On December 29, 2017, the memorial of GovindMahar, a man who carries the legacy of cremating Sambhaji Maharaj, son of Shivaji Maharaj, came to be defiled.

This resulted in a riot-like situation in Vadu Budruk and adjacent areas, however, all the villagers acted with responsibility and sorted out the issue amongst themselves and peace was restored. By December 30, 2017, though the issue at the Vadu Budruk was resolved peacefully, it is said that Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote, instigated the villagers.

On December 30, 2017, a message was circulated on social media that there is a meeting called by Sambhaji Bhide in Vadu Village on January 01, 2018 and the supporters should gather in large numbers.

On the night of December 31, 2017, PradipKand, Anil Kand and Ganesh Kand were threatening hotel owners to ensure bandh on January 01, 2018.

Suddenly on late night December 31, 2017, a letter was sent to the police station, near Bhima Koregaon purportedly written by Bhima Koregaon Gram Panchayat, wherein police were informed about the bandh to be observed next day.

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Maha Vikas Aghadi demands employment for ‘locals’

Fri, 29 Nov 2019 12:33:29 +0000

The newly-formed Maharashtra state government has decided to make it mandatory for all upcoming industries to employ 80 percent local staff, The Times of India reported.

Keeping in line with the draft common minimum programme, officials from the state industries department said they would make it mandatory for industrial investors and corporates which have signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the state government to provide 80% jobs to locals if they wanted to avail benefits and tax incentives.

The state industries department is revisiting the industrial policy and said that this clause would be included in the MoU itself instead of serving as a mere guideline, with officials stating that the move would incentivize job creation instead of investments. Under the new policy, it will also be mandatory to audit employment generation to ensure that incentives are given to those who follow the guidelines.

State Industries minister Subhash Desai, a member of the Shiv Sena, gave the details at a press conference in August and added that it would be mandatory for these industries to source a specified percentage of raw materials from small and medium enterprises in the area where their business are set-up.

On the cards of the government is a Marathi language university, a cultural university in Nashik to preserve Marathi literature, a low-cost ‘Marathi asmita’ tab loaded with classic Marathi literature and at least one Marathi library in every gram panchayat jurisdiction in Maharashtra, The Print reported.

So, who are the ‘locals’?

The first Government Resolution (GR) passed by the Industry, Energy and Labour Department in 1968, defines a ‘local person’ as one who has completed minimum of 15 years residence in the State of Maharashtra.

On its website, the Directorate of Industries states, “With a view to get appropriate share in the economic benefit from industrial development and to eradicate unemployment of local persons, the State Government has adopted the policy of preferential treatment to local person since 1968. For effective implementation of this policy, the State Govt.”

As per the revised procedure in 2008, “All Micro, Small, medium, large and mega industrial enterprises has to ensure that minimum 50% supervisory staff and minimum 80% other employees including supervisory category will be local persons.”

The GR also said that candidates must be able to speak Marathi and should have a domicile certificate.

According to the data accessed by The Times of India from the state industries wing, as on March 2019, 10 lakh jobs in 3,052 major industries are held by locals. In the micro, small and medium industries, nearly 61.6 lakh jobs (89.3%) were held by locals.

(Source – Times of India)

The 80% job reservation for locals appears to reiterate the Shiv Sena’s commitment to the ‘Sons of the Soil’ concept. This underlines the view that a state belongs to the main linguistic group inhabiting it and these inhabitants are its ‘local residents’. Others who are settled there, but whose mother tongue isn’t the state’s main language are seen as ‘outsiders’.

Shiv Sena has always been at the forefront of this movement, for they were upset by three other groups; the Gujaratis, the South Indians and the labour class of Northern India. The demand of the Shiv Sena for preference to the natives has come up time and again through decades – for better employment, better education, funding opportunities and better livelihoods than the outsiders.

In 2003, then Shiv Sena leader Raj Thackeray, who now leads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) spearheaded the ‘Mumbai for Marathis’ stir which targeted outsiders, mainly the North Indians. He went around central and south-central Mumbai warning North Indians to ‘Quit Mumbai’.

During the same period the current CM of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray was leading the ‘Mee Mumbaikar’ campaign – a more inclusive one to win over the non-Marathi ethnic and linguistic minority groups in the wake of the elections to be held at the time.

The Sena was born out of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement that fought for Maharashtrians to be given first preference in all arenas in the state after it felt threatened by an alleged take over of job, especially white-collar ones, by South Indians. Bal Thackeray, the late Sena Supremo called on the angst of the ‘locals’ to persecute the ‘others’ forming a sort of ‘sub-nationalism’ based on language and religion. He had once infamously declared, “All the lungiwalas are criminals, gamblers, illicit liquor distillers, pimps, goondas and communists. I want the illicit liquor distiller to be Maharashtrian the goondas to be Maharasthrians, pimps and gamblers to be Maharashtrians.”

After stoking the fire, it changed its political strategy and took a softer approach towards the hostility towards outsiders. After the declarations in the common minimum programme, it is yet to be seen whether the Sena will revisit the Sons of the Soil movement, or will it shed its xenophobia to be more inclusive towards all the ‘locals’ of Maharashtra.

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