Everything that happened during Maharashtra Legislature Monsoon Session

The Devendra Fadnavis-led government concluded its last monsoon session of Maharashtra Legislature concluded on July 1 before its term ends. The state assembly elections are scheduled later this year in October and all the political parties are focusing on the same. There were several developments in the state assembly session.

Developments amid Monsoon Session

• The last session of the present government.
• Several leaders were let go from their position as ministers.
• Prakash Mehta was evicted from the state cabinet.
• Former senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who joined BJP, was inducted in the state cabinet and was given housing portfolio.
• Jaydatta Kshirsagar got in the BJP from NCP, got employment guarantee and horticulture
• Former NCP leader Jaydutt Kshirsagar, who joined BJP, was also inducted in the state cabinet.
• After Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil resigned, Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar was appointed as Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
• Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gorhe was elected as Deputy Chairman in Maharashtra Legislative Council. 

Clean Chits to Ministers

On the last day of the monsoon session, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave clean chit to state Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil in connection with the multi-crore land scam involving two land deals in Pune district. 

CM Fadnavis asserted that he has known Patil for 30-35 years and the allegations levelled against him are “baseless”. Talking about the allegations regarding mobile phone scam, CM Fadnavis said that the mobile phones which were given to Anganwadi women workers are priced at ₹9,000 online. However, they were bought at the price of ₹6,100.

While declaring corruption charges against them as “unsubstantial”, the Chief Minister also gave clean chit to several other ministers  including Maharashtra Education Minister Ashish Shelar followed by Water Resource minister Girish Mahajan, Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Tourism Minister Jaykumar Rawal and others.

Maharashtra Legislature Proceedings

Maharashtra legislative assembly carried out 12 proceedings in the monsoon session. In the lower house, the work went on for 100 hours and 16 minutes while 3 hours and 37 minutes were wasted. 

In a total of 12 proceedings carried out in the state legislative council, the work went on for 68 hours and 7 minutes while 12 hours and 14 minutes were wasted.

Moreover, in the legislative assembly, 26 bills were presented before the house while the discussion was held on 24 bills in the legislative council. In the assembly, the report of 23 departments was presented during the session while the report of 29 departments was presented in legislative council.

For the people

• Maharashtra government introduced the additional budget of ₹4.04 lakh crore for the year 2019-20.
• Allocation of ₹200 crore to Maharashtra State Other Backward Classes Finance Commission and the construction of 36 hostels for OBC students.
• Allocation of ₹1,000 crore for 10,000 houses to the Dhangar community, which is seeking to be included in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category regarding their demand for reservation.
• Allocation of ₹2,814 crore for Maratha, Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT).
• Allocation of ₹200 crore for self-employment scheme for widows and abandoned women.
• Increase in pension from ₹600 to ₹1,000 for homeless, widow, elderly and differently-abled.
•  ₹71,206 crore allocated for education, sports.
• ₹14,810 crore for public health and family welfare.