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Maharashtra

RTI: Maharashtra LoP Devendra Fadnavis is a ‘Man of Letters’, 230-plus

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 The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis — whose political bark is considered worse than his bite — also uses the pen, literally, to bulldoze the Maha Vikas Aghadi ‘auto rickshaw’ government, no-holds-barred.

Not content with regular jibes at the ruling Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress alliance in general and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in particular, Fadnavis also regularly pens his pricks and pains, at the MVA — quite frequently.

As per an RTI reply from the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Office CMO, in around 22 months Fadnavis has shot off — on record — various issues to the CMO vide a whopping 231 letters.

“In the 22 month period from November 2019 – September 2021, this comes to roughly 10 letters every month or nearly three for a working week…” said RTI activist Prafful Sarda.

Sarda had penned the RTI query to the CMO, seeking, among other things, the number of letters sent by the Leader of Opposition (Fadnavis) to the Chief Minister (Thackeray), and got the revealing letter-in-reply.

“This is more than 7 times the number of published letters that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had penned to his doting minor daughter Indira (Priyadarshini) Nehru while he was incarcerated in jails during the Independence Movement, later published as a literary masterpiece, ‘Letters From A Father To His Daughter’ (1929),” Sarda pointed out.

Sources say that usually Fadnavis writes about mostly state-related or political issues to the Chief Minister, and in the initial days, his letters rattled the fledgling MVA ministers and officials.

Later, the old economic theory came into play — ‘the more you have of something, the less you want, the more of it’, with Fadnavis’ letters averaging one-to-three pagers, becoming less awesome, plus the government’s response is not known.

With time Fadnavis’ painstakingly printed letters, both in email and hardcopy on the glittering ‘Leader of Opposition’ letterhead — where his name is proclaimed in larger size than the august post he holds — came to be treated as ‘routine’, not ruffling the officialdom.

Official sources wonder, if the Honourable Leader of Opposition has indeed written so many letters in such a short period, “it may be a record of sorts”, with each letter winking — “Mee Punha Yaeen (I will return)” – a la Fadnavis!

“In the past, at best we recall barely a handful of letters from any Hon.’ Leader of Opposition to the reigning Hon.’ CM… Usually a phone-call or a mere word was enough to get things moving… So many letters are unheard of… makes one wonder about the possible intentions,” said a senior former officer.

To Fadnavis’ credit, some of the letters he penned, mostly in Marathi, few even in English and Marathi for the larger audiences, many posted on social media, raised pertinent current issues and even garnered huge media publicity, ensuring he remained in the spotlight.

But, in some dark moments, he grabbed the limelight by unilaterally proclaiming – “I feel I’m still the CM” — to drive the entire state into splits, with MVA leaders urging the BJP to ensure proper treatment for mental problems, hallucinations, or trauma of his defeat two years ago which he still cannot digest, etc.

Maharashtra

Opposition protests against the government for declaring Wari as urban Naxal

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Mumbai: On the fourth day in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the opposition created a ruckus over declaring Wari as urban Naxal and has made serious allegations against the government of insulting Wari. On the fourth day of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the opposition has made several serious allegations against the ministers of the government while protesting on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan. The ministers included in the cabinet of the state government are misusing their powers and occupying government lands in the state.

Just as the ruling front is trying to defame the holy pilgrimage of Hinduism, Wari, by calling Vitthurai and Warkars urban Naxalites and urban Maoists, in the same way it is insulting Wari Palkhi. This is reprehensible. Members of the Maha Vikas Aghadi staged a strong protest on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan against the ruling front and accused the government of insulting Wari. In this demonstration, the members also raised slogans cursing the government and said that due to the scamster government, farmers are dying of hunger and the ministers are calling the laborers urban Naxalites. Shiv Sena leader of opposition Ambadas Danve, Vijay Varditwar, Sachin Ahir, Jitendra Ahawat etc. participated in this protest.

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Maharashtra

‘Welfare Of Police Personnel Is Top Priority For Home Department,’ Says Minister Yogesh Kadam

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Mumbai: While responding to a question in the Maharashtra Legislative Council regarding the deaths of on-duty police personnel, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Yogesh Kadam, emphasized that “the welfare of police officers and staff is a key responsibility of the Home Department.”

He informed the House that the causes of death among police personnel in the state vary and include illness and suicide. To address these concerns and safeguard the health of police personnel, the government has undertaken several initiatives.

🔹 Free Treatment for 40 Diseases at 270 Hospitals

Police personnel and their families can avail free treatment for 40 different diseases across 270 hospitals. In Mumbai alone, these services are available at 34 hospitals.

🔹 Special Cancer Screening Camps

Special camps for cancer screening are being organized with support from Tata Hospital and other medical institutions.

🔹 Mental Health Initiatives

To strengthen mental well-being, yoga camps and gym facilities have been launched at various police stations.

🔹 Record Recruitment During Current Tenure

The state government has filled over 85% of vacant posts in the police force, marking the highest recruitment under this administration.

🔹 Compassionate Appointments Without Conditions

In the unfortunate event of an in-service death, a family member of the deceased police personnel is offered a government job on compassionate grounds, without any conditions.

Minister Kadam reiterated the Home Department’s commitment to ensuring the social, mental, and medical welfare of all police personnel and their families.

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Maharashtra

Maharashtra Urdu Academy should be formed, funds and staff should be appointed for the promotion of Urdu language Abu Asim Azmi

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Mumbai: Mumbai Maharashtra Legislative Assembly member Abu Asim Azmi has demanded the immediate formation of Urdu Academy to promote Urdu. He said that academies of other languages ​​including Gujarati and Marathi are active, but the condition of Urdu Academy is pathetic. Earlier there were 25 employees in this academy, but now only the superintendent is left. The remaining 24 have retired. The government needs to pay attention to the plight of Urdu.

The formation of this academy will promote Urdu. Azmi demanded that the Urdu Academy is facing difficulties due to the provision of funds. He said that the government allocates Rs 1 crore on paper, but this fund is not provided. Abu Asim Azmi said that Urdu is the language of our country. Whenever the Chief Minister or any other minister speaks in the House, they resort to Urdu poetry. But when it comes to the establishment of Urdu Academy and the development of Urdu language, the government is doing injustice

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