Mumbai, May 1: The State Government is committed to achieve all round development and progress of the state, said Governor Ch Vidyasahar Rao appealing all citizens to contribute in government efforts to make Maharashtra an influential and advanced state. He conveyed his best compliments of Maharashtra Day and Labour Day also to the people of the state.
The Governor was speaking at the main function at Shivaji Park held to commemorate the Maharashtra Statehood Day. Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis, Industry Minister Subhash Desai, Transport Minister Diwakar Raote, Education Minister Vinod Tawde, Chief Secretary D K Jain, former Chief Secretary Sumit Mallik,Additional Chief Secretary Pravin Pardeshi, Shyamlal Goyal, Principal Secretaries and Chief Protocoal Officer Rajgopal Devra and other dignitaries were present on th occasion.
The Governor congratulated the workers of the state on the occasion of International Labour Day and paid homage to those martyrs who sacrificed their lives for creation of Maharashtra Stare.
The Governor further said that we should remember Chhatrapti Shivaji Maharaj, social reformers Mahatma Jyotiba Fule, Savitribai Fule, Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Mahraj, Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and other great leaders on this occasion because they are the founders of modern Maharashtra.
Governor Vidyasagar Rao further said that the state government is committed to double the income of the farmers by 2022. Farm ponds, Jalyukta Shivar, diging wells are some of the steps the government is taking to increase the land under irrigation. In the current year the government has increased irrigation capacity to 2.26 lakh ha and to increase the water storage capacity to 853 million cubic meter. Priority is being given to complete the work of ongoing 50 irrigation projects.
The Governor also said that 60 lakh toilets were constructed in the state as a part of the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. 34 districts, 351 talukas and 27,667 grampanchayats and 40,500 villages in the state have become open defecation free (ODF).
The Governor appealed to all citizens to participate in ‘Plastic free Maharashtra’ movement and endorsed the decision of the state government to ban use, production and sale of plastics and thermocol to save and protect the environment. This is a very important decision and this will help conserve the environment and natural sources.
He further said that 4,106 MoUs were signed inviting investment worth Rs 12.10 lakh crore during the ‘Magnetic Maharashtra Global Investors’ Summit’ inaugurated by the Prime Minister in Mumbai this year. This will generate over 36.77 lakh employment opportunities. Similarly, MoU worth Rs 600 crore has been signed with the Indian Railways. Bhumipujan of Railway Coach Factory was performed at Latur recently. This project is likely to create 25000 job opportunities, he said and added that Maharashtra will be the first state of India to march towards becoming $ 1 trillion economy.
He said the government has decided to develop places related to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and his life as pilgrim centres and these places include ‘Chavdar Tale’ of Mahad, ‘Kalaram Mandir’ of Nasik, ‘Deekshabhumi’ at Nagpur, ‘Buddh Vihar’ at Dehu, Satara Vidyalaya and Memory Pillar at Bhima-Koregaon.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) 4 lakh houses are completed in rural areas of the state. The government is making efforts to complete another 12 lakh houses to provide residences to all by 2019, the Governor said.
The State Government has decided to give one percent reservation to orphans from open category and this is the first such decision in the entire country. This will benefit those orphans to get into government jobs.
To increase the percentage of women entrepreneurs in the state the government has formulated an industrial policy exclusively dedicated to women entrepreneurs. This will help 20000 women entrepreneurs to start their businesses and enterprises. This will help create over one lakh jobs in coming five years, he said.
Under the ‘Green Maharashtra’ campaign 50 crore saplings will be planted in 2017 and 2019. The government has approved ‘Kai. Balasahen Thackeray Smruti Grampanchayat Yojana’ to facilitate construction of office buildings for those granpanchayats that does not have their own office buildings.
The government has declared many policies targeted at speedy development of the state. They include space and defence sectors, coir industries policy, expansion of present industrial policy, Maharashtra electric vehicle production policy, Industrial complex policy, Integrated Logistic Park Policy, New Textiles policy, and Finance Technology policy. These policies will definitely attract investors and create employment for the state youth.
State Government is providing special attention to public health sector. From the coming month, free chemotherapy will be given to cancer patients in the state. In the first phase this facility will be made available at Nagpur, Gadchiroli, Pune, Amravatim Jalgaon, Nasik, Wardha, Satara, Bhandara and Akola districts, the Governor said.
The MSRTC has decided to provide jobs to legal heirs of those armymen who sacrificed their lives in harness. The widows of these jawans will be given free journey in all the buses run by MSRTC, Governor Rao said.
Passes for free ST travel were given to Sushma Rohit Patil, Suman Eknath Mane, Surekha Ramchandra Shinde and Suman Shridhar Sonavane as token at the hands of the Governor on this occasion.