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Maharashtra

Oppn to PM: ‘Meet kin of farmer who committed suicide after greeting you’ 

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In a shocker, a penniless and frustrated farmer Dashrath L. Kedari, greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 72nd birthday (September 17) and then jumped into a village pond to end his life, his grieving family said here on Monday.

The Maharashtra Opposition has called upon the PM to visit the family of the farmer who penned a suicide note and raised issues of Minimum Support Price and other issues confronting the agro-sector.

Kedari’s brother-in-law Arvind Waghmare said the incident took place in Bankarphata village where he had been working as a farmer for the past 8 years.

“He seemed very depressed that day, but conveyed his wishes for a long life to the PM, then jumped into a nearby pond and killed himself. A suicide note was recovered later,” Waghmare told IANS.

Opposition Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress slammed the state and Central government for failure “to protect farmers reeling under a severe agrarian crisis with a record number of farmland suicides clocked this year”.

In his final note, debt-ridden Kedari wished ‘Happy Birthday to You, PM’ and then blamed the state government for failing to ensure MSP which compelled him to end his life and escape the debtors.

He rued how the state was not giving MSP to onion, tomato and other crops’ cultivators, suffering from the ravages of the recent floods and the losses of the pandemic.

“What should we do? You are only concerned for yourself Modi Saheb… We are not begging for alms, but what is rightly due to us… MSP must be given to us as the money-lenders are threatening us. Nobody takes risks like the farmers… where do we go with our grievances,” Kedari said.

Congress state President Nana Patole, Sena Spokespersons Kishore Tiwari and Dr. Manisha Kayande and Nationalist Congress Party Chief Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase slammed the government for failure to tackle the state agrarian crisis which has resulted in a spate of desperate suicides by the tillers.

Shooting a letter to Modi, Tiwari – who is President of Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM) – urged the PM to immediately come to visit the Kedari family as the state government has failed to solve the problems of farmers.

He recalled how Modi – during his trendsetter ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ with farmers in his visit to Yavatmal (March 2014) – had assured to address core issues like MSP, marketing, input costs, easy credit from public sector banks, change in crop patterns, risk management by way of crop insurance, etc.

However, despite the PM’s best efforts, nothing has materialised owing to a hostile administration and corrupt implementation agencies, leading to tragedies like Kedari’s suicide for precisely similar reasons, Tiwari pointed out.

He called upon Modi to visit the Kedari family or direct Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to go and console the deceased farmers’ kin during her visit to Pune next week.

“A farmer greets the PM and then goes on his ‘chita’ (funeral pyre), but the PM is busy bringing the ‘cheetah’ to the country… This is the sad status in the country,” said Dr. Kayande, taking a swipe.

Patole said when farmers are burning on the pyres, the PM is organising ‘cheetah’ mega-events and called for “ending this suicides circle”.

Tapase termed it a ‘shame’ that farmers are greeting PM’s birthday with suicide as “the government has gone deaf, dumb and blind” to their plight.

A grim Tiwari added that this year, over 1,080 farmers have ended lives in Vidarbha alone and the state has created a new record with around 2,600 peasants’ suicides in the first nine months of 2022.

Kedari, 42, hailing from Wadgaon-Anand village, is survived by his wife Shanta and two college-going children – son Shubham, 20, and daughter Shravani, 18.

His funeral was completed last weekend after the Alephata Police made enquiries and registered a case, said Waghmare.

Maharashtra

ED took action on 15 places including Mithi river, cleanliness, irregularities, Dino Morea

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Dino Morea ED

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has raided 15 places including Mumbai in the irregularities case in the cleaning of the Mithi river. The Enforcement Directorate has also claimed to have seized many important documents related to the case while conducting raids in Mumbai and Kochi. The ED has also raided the house of film actor Dino Maurya. The EOW has registered the first FIR in this case, after which the Enforcement Directorate has now started a parallel investigation. The ED has taken this action under the PMLA Money Laundering Act. Dino Maurya has also been involved in this irregularity. The EOW has also questioned him and his brother.

It is said that Dino Maurya and Ketan are close to Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray. Now Dino’s troubles have increased. The EOW has found many important documents and evidence in the Mithi river corruption and irregularities case in Mumbai, so now the ED has also started its action in the case of misuse of funding and illegal tender purchase in this case. Many Shiv Sena leaders are also in the ambit of ED action, because during the Mithi river corruption scam, Shiv Sena was ruling the BMC, so the scope of investigation has become focused on Shiv Sena leaders. EOW has also made significant progress in its action in the Mithi river corruption case in Mumbai. More revelations are expected after the arrival of ED in this case. EOW has taken action against 13 people in this case so far and has also arrested them. In this, political leaders including BMC officials are also on the radar of ED.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: MLA and SP leader Abu Asim Azmi appeals to avoid sacrificing animals in the open on Eid-ul-Azha

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Mumbai: Mumbai Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi has appealed to Muslims not to perform Qurbani in the open and also follow BMC and government guidelines. Cleanliness is half of faith, so take special care of cleanliness. Not only this, it is mandatory to follow all the guidelines and guiding principles set regarding Qurbani. Take special care of cleanliness and ensure that the brothers and sisters of the country do not face any kind of trouble on Eid-ul-Azha. This is the real teaching of Islam. Celebrate Eid with mutual love, brotherhood and following Sunnat Ibrahimi. Azmi said that the waste of Qurbani on Eid should also be kept in bags and thrown in the dustbin.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai Congress delegation meets Municipal Commissioner, expresses grave concern over poor condition of city

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Mumbai: Today, a high-level Congress delegation led by Mumbai Congress President and MP Prof. Varsha Tai Gaikwad met BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani. The delegation included MLA Aslam Shaikh, MLA Amin Patel, MLA Dr. Jyoti Tai Gaikwad, former corporator Haji Babbu Khan and other former corporators of Mumbai Congress.

Several important issues were raised in the meeting on administrative collapse, corruption and deterioration of public amenities in Mumbai.

‎🛑 Highlights of the meeting:

‎🔸 Increase in property tax without public approval
Violating the directions of the Supreme Court, the BMC increased property tax in the absence of elected representatives. The Congress strongly opposed this unconstitutional move and called it a financial burden on the people of Mumbai.

‎Scams in road construction
‎There is a possibility of massive corruption in the concreting of roads. Only 25% of the work has been completed so far and that too has been hampered by poor quality, damage to pipelines and serious irregularities in tendering – particularly in the inorganic phosphate based geo-polymer concrete tender.

‎🔸 Drain cleaning scam

Drain cleaning before the monsoon has become a sham. All the work has been handed over to contractors, no monitoring, no accountability. The Congress has demanded immediate and strict action.

‎🔸 Medical facilities in ICUs

BMC hospitals – like Baba, Rajawadi, Shatabdi and Bhagwati – are in a shambles. Patients are being forcibly sent to private hospitals, while privatisation of hospitals and delay in development work have worsened the problems.

‎🔸 Waste management
‎The sanitation system is already failing and now the BMC is considering imposing a “garbage tax”. In areas like Kurla and Borivali, the sewer line work has been incomplete for years.

‎🔸 Failure of the education system:

BMC school children have not yet been given books and uniforms. The commissioner has given a deadline of June 15. If this work is not completed, the Congress will again come out with questions on June 16.

‎🔸 Delay in housing schemes and PAP projects:

Housing schemes, PAP and redevelopment projects in areas like Andheri, Vakola, Khar have been victims of builder fraud, misuse of TDR and government negligence.

‎🔸 Other important issues

Corruption in central procurement process

Delay in approving hawking policy

Acute lack of facilities in Muslim graveyards

🗣️ Congress demands:

✅ ACB should investigate contractor mafia in BMC

✅ Independent audit of drain cleaning and road construction works

✅ Independent monitoring body should be formed for BMC tenders

Mumbai cannot be left at the mercy of a neglected and corrupt system. Congress will continue to fight at every level by becoming the voice of the people of Mumbai!

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