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Maharashtra

The long hand of ED and the rise of Maha’s ED (Eknath-Devendra)

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At the special session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on July 3-4, during the voting the Opposition benches of the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress reverberated with catcalls of ‘ED’, ‘ED’ to at least one MLA in the House.

The jeering and taunts were directed at the Shiv Sena MLAs group which had revolted on June 20, leading to the collapse of the 3-party 31-month-old MVA alliance — headed by ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray — on June 29.

Ten days later on June 30, a new Bharatiya Janata Party-supported government headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in, making it one of the swiftest state political coups in recent decades, and the first of its kind in Maharashtra.

Sensing the �sour mood’ of the Opposition, the Deputy CM later �concurred’ with them, in a lighter vein stating that now, indeed – an �E’-�D’ government – comprising �E’knath Shinde and �D’evendra Fadnavis was in power here.

A harbinger of things to come in the future�?, as many legislators on both sides were left wondering� with central investigation agencies like the Income Tax Department, Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, Narcotics Control Bureau, et al — once invisible lurking ghosts, but now common household names and the butt of many a joke and memes.

Back in September 2019, the ED had dropped its own IED by issuing a statement naming – of all persons, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar in an alleged money-laundering scam cooked up in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank Ltd.

Unfazed, Pawar took what he termed �the ED’s love-message’ in his stride, and �self-summoned’ himself, dressing up to report suo-moto at the ED office, and perhaps, give the investigators a sharp �love-bite’, too!

Aware of a possible law-and-order situation as thousands of NCP workers prepared to join Pawar’s �ED yatra’, the then BJP-led government of CM Fadnavis panicked.

He immediately deputed the then Police Commissioner to meet and cajole the irked Pawar to abandon his plans – and since that �masterstroke’, the 81-year-old Maratha has not heard from the ED, but recently, the IT department has sent him a notice.

After the BJP-led NDA government took over at the Centre, the non-BJP ruled states, including Maharashtra post-Nevember 2019, are feeling the heat as many of their prominent leaders are being fried on the griddle of one or multiple central agencies.

In fact, Maharashtra had become a favourite hunting ground of the central snoops during the MVA government and the three alliance partners screamed from the rooftops at how the BJP has let loose the ED, IT, CBI, NCB to terrorise and silence them.

However, concealing a smile on a straight face, the BJP leaders airily dismissed all allegations and the central agencies remain freely on the prowl.

The past few years have seen over a dozen Sena-NCP-Congress leaders under microscopic scrutiny, playing havoc with the politicians, their political careers and parties, and lately, even an entire state government.

The targets so far: ex-CM Thackeray’s brother-in-law Shridhar M. Patankar, close associates of son and ex-Minister Aditya Thackeray, while ex-Minister Anil Parab was closeted inside the ED office and outside, his government was crumbling in late-June, Sena MPs Sanjay Raut and Bhavana Gawali – the latter, sacked as the party’s Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha, several legislators like Pratap Sarnaik, MLA Yamini Jadhav’s husband and BMC leader Yashwant Jadhav, Arjun Khotkar, and many more.

In the NCP, those in focus were the close relatives of ex-Deputy CM (new Leader of Opposition) Ajit Pawar, four former ministers — Anil Deshmukh, Nawab Malik (both arrested), Prajakt Tanpure and Eknath Khadse — the last one faced the ED ire after he switched over from the BJP to the NCP and several more coming onto the radar.

Some Congress leaders have complaints against them though the agencies have not yet hounded them. Ex-Congress minister Harshvardhan Patil said on record that after joining the BJP, “there are no enquiries” and he “enjoys sound sleep !”

Post-MVA collapse, there were political murmurs hinting that a couple of top rebels and more than two dozen MLAs who flocked together were reportedly under the lens of one or more agencies.

Some bitter MLAs have also pointed fingers at the MVA leaders for “failure to protect them” from the ceaseless assault of the investigation agencies and felt it �safer’ to ally with the BJP. Pawar once complained to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the harassment.

Probably a telling indicator of the dreadful reputation of the probe organisations, which are now perceived as the most effective �ammunition’ against the Opposition.

Maharashtra

We will take initiative on the problems of Mumbai University – Ambadas Danve

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Mumbai: Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve said that the government will take initiative regarding the vacant posts of teachers in Mumbai University, enrollment of colleges, and pending development works by MMRDA. Today he visited the Kalina campus and took stock of the problems and current situation of the students.

Delay in development works of the university

An agreement was signed between Mumbai University and MMRDA for the beautification of the Kalina campus and construction of buildings for educational purposes. But this work has not been done till now and concerns were raised about the completion of these works.

Issue of safety of students

Every day five to six thousand students visit the Kalina campus, but incidents of attacks on female students are increasing due to outside elements. Also, the Bit Chowki near the main entrance was demolished in the name of widening the road, which increased the threat to the safety of girl students, this issue was raised by Senate member Sheetal Devrukhkar-Sheth.

Issue of cancellation of teacher recruitment

Instead of improving the quality of education, the decision to cancel the teacher recruitment is proving to be harmful for the students, Senate member Milind Satam reported.

Challenge to the international recognition of the university

Despite getting international recognition, the students are facing problems due to the problems of Mumbai University, which is unfortunate, said Ambadas Danve. Students from all over the country and abroad come here to study, so it is important to solve these problems, he said.

Vice Chancellor Dr. Ravindra Kulkarni, Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr. Ajay Bhamare, local MLA Vilas Potnis, Senate members Sheetal Devrukhkar-Sheth, Milind Satam, Kisan Sawant, Param Yadav and other dignitaries were present in this meeting.

Danve resolved to raise voice with the government on the problems of the university and play an active role in the interest of the students.

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Maharashtra

‘Water Grid’ project for Marathwada: Gulabrao Patil

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Mumbai: The ‘Marathwada Water Grid’ scheme is being implemented to permanently solve the water shortage in Marathwada and ensure robust water supply. Under this project, 11 major dams of Marathwada will be connected through pipelines and drinking water will be provided to cities and villages across the region. Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Gulabrao Patil gave information about the project and said that this project will provide sustainable water supply to Marathwada.

The cooperation of global level banks will be taken to implement this scheme, Patil said. A review meeting was held with representatives of global banks in the ministry regarding this project. Many important officials including Principal Secretary of Water Supply and Sanitation Department Sanjay Khandare, Member Secretary of Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran Abhishek Krishna, Chief Executive Officer of ‘Mitra’ Praveensinh Pardeshi, Director of Jal Jeevan Mission Abhiyan E Ravindran, and Secretary of Water Resources Department Sanjay Belsare were present in this meeting.

Long-term water supply to Marathwada will be ensured through this project. Along with this, as per the advice of the central government, the project will be set up and implemented by taking loans from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and New Development Bank. The implementation of the project will be coordinated by the ‘Mitra’ institution, as told by Minister Gulabrao Patil.

The ‘Mitra’ institution has taken the initiative to discuss the project further and coordinate with the concerned banks. Patil expressed confidence that the project will significantly help in solving the water problem of Marathwada.

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Maharashtra

The state government is preparing to bring private kindergartens under its control

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Mumbai: The lack of educational facilities, midday meals for children, and proper implementation of government schemes in private schools running in the streets of the state has increased the concern of parents. As a measure against this, the School Education Department has started preparing a new manual to bring private schools under government control.

According to the new National Education Policy, pre-primary education for children between 3 and 6 years of age has been considered important, and it is proposed to include private schools in this policy as well. Currently, many schools running in the streets are running without any manual and are out of the control of the local administration. It has been assured that a suitable educational environment will be created for the children under this new rule of the Education Department.

Under the new regulations, educational curriculum for children will be implemented in the balwadis, along with midday meals and appropriate schemes for the physical and mental development of children. This is expected to provide quality education to the children.

It has not yet been decided which department will control these balwadis – the School Education Department, the Women and Child Welfare Department, and the Integrated Child Development Services Department. However, it is believed that this decision will reduce the anxiety of parents and improve the educational quality of children.

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