Maharashtra govt considering development work allocation to women's co-op societies Fadnavis

Mumbai, July 8 (PTI) The Maharashtra government is considering assigning development works of Rs 10 lakh to registered women's cooperative societies, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the legislative assembly on Tuesday.
    "The existing Public Works Department guidelines allocate such works to labour cooperative societies, educated unemployed engineers, and eligible registered contractors", Fadnavis said while replying to a calling attention notice moved by MLA Prakash Solanke on the allocation of irrigation-related works in Majalgaon of Beed district.
    Fadnavis said the government has already permitted the registration of women's cooperative societies, and now intends to include them in the distribution of development contracts.
    He said a committee of public representatives would be formed to ensure greater transparency in the distribution of development projects and the allocation process will be streamlined based on the committee's recommendations.
    Responding to the same notice, Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Godavari and Krishna Valley Development Corporations) said that the Majalgaon Irrigation Division manages 66 projects, including six medium, 53 minor, and seven Kolhapuri-type dams, collectively serving an irrigation area of 87,993 hectares.
    He further stated that the executive engineer of the division had approved a list of 148 urgent works, each valued at less than Rs 10 lakh. An inquiry will be conducted into how these works were allocated, and a report is to be submitted within 15 days. Suitable action will be taken based on the findings, the minister added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)