Maha Assembly: Oppn demands discussion on Kelkar panel report

Uproarious scenes were witnessed in the state Legislative Assembly with opposition Congress-NCP demanding a detailed discussion on recommendation of the Kelkar Committee report regarding the development backlog in Vidarbha, Marathwada and the rest of Maharashtra.
Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and NCP group leader Jayant Patil demanded that instead of taking up discussion on the issue under Rule 293, which entails discussion only for about three hours, the debate should extend till about two days.
"There are 146 recommendations made by the committee and all members require time to deliberate on them comprehensively," they said.
The opposition leaders said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had agreed during the winter session in Nagpur that a special session to discuss the Kelkar panel report would be held.

Speaker Haribhau Bagde rejected the demand and Shiv Sena legislator Rajendra Patni moved the motion for discussion of the development backlog and Kelkar Committee report under Rule 293.
Speaking on the motion, Patni said keeping taluka as a unit for determining backlog was unjustified. He said the Kelkar Committee had further compounded the injustice heaped on Marathwada and Vidarbha.

BJP legislator from Vidarbha Anil Bonde was critical of the committee report which said priority should be given to 44 talukas from western Maharashtra for distribution of water from the total water storage in the state.
To this, Minister of State for Water Resources Vijay Shivtare, who hails from western Maharashtra, intervened to say that Maan, Jat, Khatav talukas in western Maharashtra are backward. However, BJP legislator Sanjay Kute objected that ministers cannot take regional sides.

Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said the overall backlog is decreasing and some recommendations of the Kelkar Committee report can be accepted.
He clarified that fixing of taluka as a unit for determining backlog was not a decision of his government. Chavan called resolving the backlog issue through consensus and discussions.
"Justice Kelkar told me that complete removal of backlog will take twenty years," Chavan said.