Uddhav
Thackeray and his son Aaditya systematically betrayed the Bharatiya Janata
Party to bag power in the state. And today, this father-son duo has suddenly
got into an action mode and are vehemently vociferating. In the backdrop of
recent accidental deaths in the hospital in Nanded, the Thackeray father-son
duo is on a spree of criticizing the state government, the BJP and the Shiv
Sena. Probably the Thackerays have realized that they will not be able to once
again bag the chief ministerial position and thus their disappointment, which
they are unable to hide.
Similarly, senior leader Sharad Pawar has also crossed all limits in the way he speaks. While Thackeray f ather and son are dejected over losing power, there is Pawar who is afraid with the rising popularity of this highly efficient Eknath Shinde–Devendra Fadnavis–Ajit Pawar’s Mahayuti government and its various developmental schemes implemented for welfare of people. Maharashtra is witnessing a stark difference in style of governance – an Opposition that is only raising criticisms and an efficient government that takes decisions and instantaneously implements it for the welfare of the people.
To help
compensate farmers for the loss of crops and agricultural lands due to heavy
rainfall during the two months of June-July 2023, the state government approved
Rs 1,071 crore which will be directly deposited in the bank accounts of
14,09,318 farmers affected in the state. Due to this decision, the poor farmers
will not have to repeatedly visit government offices to get this financial aid.
Under the ‘Crop Insurance for Re.1 Scheme’, nearly 1,70,67,000 farmers paid for
crop insurance and the state government also distributed Rs 406 crore to the
insurance companies. This paved a way to ensure that nearly 1.25 crore farmers,
who lost the Kharif season due to lack of rains, will receive 25 per cent of
the sum insured. This amount will get credited to the bank accounts of these
farmers from October 20 onwards.
During
this year’s kharif season, kharif crops were sown on 1,40,97,000 hectares
across the state. But a few days after sowing, there came a dry spell and the
crops sown in more than 800 revenue boards of the state got affected.
Immediately, the Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar government implemented the Re.1 crop
insurance scheme. Providing crop insurance cover to farmers against natural
calamities like heavy rains, floods, droughts and hailstorms at just Re.1 is
indeed a revolutionary decision. And farmers also started getting compensated
for their losses.
Against
this backdrop, I am reminded of the announcement made by former chief minister
Uddhav Thackeray to compensate the farmers. It may be recalled that within a
few months of his coming to power, the state experienced heavy rains and the
losses suffered by the farmers was also huge. After a lot of criticism from the
then Opposition, then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray finally decided to come
out of his home. With great efforts he travelled to Solapur to inspect the
damagebut did not dare to step in the muck. The district collector had to lay a
carpet for him and only then Uddhav Thackeray got out of his vehicle. There has
never been a chief minister as insensitive as Uddhav Thackeray. It is believed
that Sharad Pawar, who is called ‘Jaanata Raja of farmers’ had admonished
Uddhav Thackeray about it. Uddhav Thackeray had made several announcements
about compensating the farmers who were affected by heavy rains,but not a
single penny reached the farmers in distress.
On the other hand, when Devendra Fadnavis was the chief minister, he had launched an ambitious project called ‘Marathwada Water Grid’ to make Marathwada drought-free. Unfortunately, this ambitious project that would have supplied drinking and irrigation water to nearly 8 districts of Marathwada got stalled during the tenure of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. Now once again, after coming to power, Fadnavis’s project saw the light of the day. Owing to the provision of Rs 14,000 crore for irrigation in Marathwada, the water grid project will now receive the necessary funding.
Recently,
during the state cabinet meeting held at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, a planned
initiative for the development of Marathwada was announced. A similar state
cabinet meeting was held at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar when Devendra Fadnavis
was the chief minister. During that meeting, decision to undertake irrigation
projects, that was the most crucial issue for Marathwada, was taken and works
to implement water grid scheme for 7 districts gained momentum. In fact, work
had also commenced in one of those districts. But Uddhav Thackeray’s government
literally scrapped this water grid scheme.
Don’t
Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray, who are now leaving no stone unturned
to criticize the state government over the deaths in the hospital in Nanded,
remember the plight of the people during Covid-19 crisis when their government
was in power? Thackeray government had not even spared the deceased. They left
people to fend for themselves. Various malpractices including the setting up of
Covid treatment centres are slowly coming to light. The Thackeray father-son
duo also seem to have forgotten the Bhandara fire accident where 11 newborns
were burnt to death during their government. Didn’t Uddhav Thackeray hear the
cries of their mothers at that time? It is sad that Uddhav Thackeray has
stooped so low in politics that now he comes across as pitiful and
insignificant.
(Article Pre-Published in Times of India -09
October. 2023)
Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson
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