Thackeray Memorial Trust to be registered soon: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said that 'Thackeray Memorial Trust' would be registered soon and thereafter the work of the memorial of the Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray would start.
Replying to a debate on motion of thanks for the Governor's address in the state legislature, Fadnavis said the public trust headed by Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, formed for the purpose of construction of memorial, will be soon registered.
In his speech, the Chief Minister justified government's refusal to grant complete loan waiver to farmers, and said the long-term measures undertaken by his government to make the agriculture sustainable had led to GSDP growth rate of 8 per cent from the previous 5.8 per cent.

Despite unprecedented drought and adverse conditions, the state was moving in the right direction which was evident in the economic survey released today, he said.
Fadnavis referred to the objections raised by the opposition on issues such as loan waiver, farmers' suicides, infrastructure projects, etc.
His Government was marching ahead with dynamism and would bring transformation in the lives of farmers, as without progress of farmers neither Make in India and Make in Maharashtra can be successful nor can the state progress, he said.

Being a drought year, the agricultural growth rate had come down but the industrial growth rate increased from 4.6 to 6.2 per cent despite global slowdown, Fadnavis said.

Criticising the loan waiver package of Rs 70,000 crore provided by the UPA Government in 2008, Fadnavis said Maharashtra's share of it was just Rs 6,910 crore, of which district banks-related amount was Rs 4,972 crore.
Thirty-six lakh farmers in the state benefited from that loan waiver, but the districts hit by suicides of farmers received only Rs 910 crore, he said.
Despite the 2008 loan waiver, farmers continued to borrow and become bankrupt, and suicides continued, he said.
NCP president Sharad Pawar himself had said the loan waiver did not result in preventing suicides and blanket loan waiver should not be given, Fadnavis pointed out.

Jalyukta Shivar Yojana, his pet project, had brought 3.42 lakh hectares of area under irrigation and it is being increased to six lakh hectares in Vidarbha and Marathwada which would help tackle the drought, he said.