The Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra announced a special package of Rs 59,000 crore for the state's backward Marathwada region on Saturday.
The decisions related to the package were taken at a special cabinet meeting that was held at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, formerly Aurangabad, on Saturday. The cabinet meeting marks 75th anniversary of Marathwada Mukti Din when the region joined the Union of India after the annexation of the Nizam-ruled Hyderabad state in 1948.
The special package includes irrigation projects worth 14,000 crore in the central Maharashtra region, which is expecting heavy drought conditions due to shortage of rainfall. Besides Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, seven districts including Dharashiv (formerly Osmanabad), Jalna, Beed, Latur, Nanded, Hingoli and Parbhani are also part of the Marathwada region. Eight lakh hectare agricultural land in the region will be irrigated after implementation of this package.
During the press conference, Chief Minister Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar announced various projects aimed at the overall development of eight districts in the Marathwada region.
Recalling that the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Agadi government did not pay any attention to development in this region, Fadnavis said the proposed Parli-Beed-Ahmednagar railway line has been stuck as the Maha Vikas Agadi government did not pay for the state component of the project.
"It was only after our government came to power that we decided to pay state component of the project work and that is how the work has started again," said Fadnavis. He also claimed that Thackeray's governement systematically killed the ambitious 'Marathwada Water Grid' project by not releasing any funds for it.
Ajit Pawar said the development of religious and temple-centric tourism in Marathwada is an important part of decisions taken on Saturday, adding that various temples in the region including Tulja Bhavani Temple at Tuljapur will be given funds generously for their development.
Responding to a query on Adarsh Cooperative Credit Society scam, CM Shinde said he has met local MP Imtiyaz Jaleel to discuss the issue. “Crores of rupees of customers have been duped. We will order taking possession of the properties of Adarsh Cooperative Credit Society and sell them to repay the customers," said Shinde.
