Page 31 - Maharashtra Government

Maharashtra approves 4% quota in promotions for divyang employees

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday approved a four per cent quota in promotion for divyang (differently-abled) employees in service. In December 2022, Maharashtra became the first state in the country to set up a Divyang department for the welfare of differently-abled people. A statement from the Chief Minister's Office said the decision for the divyang reservation in promotion was taken at the Cabinet meeting. This decision is on the lines of the similar one taken by the Central government. The Cabinet also decided that women belonging to the Open and the backward categories need not produce the non-creamy layer certificate for posts reserved for them under the Open category. The Cabinet approved a proposal to bring 30 per cent of agriculture feeders under solar energy as part of the 'Chief Minister Solar Agriculture Feeder Scheme' to ensure uninterrupted and sustainable power supply for agriculture pumps.

Maharashtra's politics churns amid speculations of Ajit Pawar jumping ships

The four-time ex-Deputy CM of Maharashtra has dismissed all the rumours of him switching sides and even rubbished his rumoured bid to switch over to the BJP

Shinde govt faces Oppn heat over sunstroke deaths; toll rises to 13

The Eknath Shinde-BJP government in Maharashtra on Monday faced criticism over the sunstroke-linked death of people at a mega award function in Navi Mumbai, held in an open ground under a scorching sun, with the Opposition demanding a probe into organisation of the programme as the toll rose to 13, while eight patients still remained hospitalised. While the Congress sought registration of a case of culpable homicide and said the government should quit, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) sought a probe into the tragedy. Tens of thousands of people had gathered in a 306-acre ground in the Kharghar area in Raigad district on Sunday for presentation of the 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award to spiritual leader and social reformer Appasaheb Dharmadhikari. The nearest weather station to the spot had recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius. Eleven people attending the event died due to sunstroke on Sunday, while two patients undergoing treatment succumbed later, taking the toll to

Number of road accident deaths in Maharashtra up by over 2,000 in 3 years

A total of 14,883 people were killed in road accidents in Maharashtra last year, an increase of 2,095 compared to 12,788 fatalities recorded in the pre-COVID-19 year of 2019, while the number of such incidents rose by 144 in 2022 from three years ago, as per official statistics. Last year, 33,069 road accidents took place in the state compared to 32,925 in 2019, as per the data. While there was a 0.44 per cent rise in the number of accidents in 2022 compared to 2019, the fatalities went up by 16.38 per cent, though the number of injuries to 27,218 from 28,628 during the period. The issue of road accidents gains prominence as 13 people, including five minors, were killed and 29 injured after a bus carrying young male and female members of a traditional music troupe fell into a gorge on the old Mumbai-Pune highway in the state's Raigad district on Saturday. The private bus with 42 persons on board was going from Pune to Mumbai when it plunged into the 300-feet deep gorge in the Bor

Amit Shah to confer Maha Bhushan Award to activist Appasaheb Dharmadhikari

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will confer the Maharashtra Bhushan Award 2022 to spiritual leader and social activist Dattatreya Narayan alias Appasaheb Dharmadhikari at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai on Sunday. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shah arrived in Mumbai on Saturday evening on a two-day visit to Maharashtra. Elaborate arrangements have been made for the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony at the sprawling Corporate Park in Kharghar as the state government expects a crowd of 15 to 20 lakh. The Maharashtra Bhushan award will be conferred in the presence of Union minister Shah and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Dharmadhikari, who has a massive following in the state due to his tree plantation drives, blood donation and medical camps as well as de-addiction work in tribal areas. The state government in an official release earlier said 250 water tankers and 2,100 taps have been installed at the venue, along with 69 ambulances, 350 doctors, 100 nurses, 32 mobile toilets, .

Eknath Shinde had cried and said he will be jailed: Aaditya Thackeray

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has claimed Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had come to his residence and cried that he will be arrested by a central agency if he did not switch over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), before revolting against the Sena leadership. However, MLA Santosh Bangar from the Shinde-led Shiv Sena denied Thackeray's claim and said there was no threat by the BJP. The reason behind the "revolt" against Thackerays was their alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, Bangar said. Union minister Ramdas Athawale also said the allegations against Shinde were false and the latter was a strong man and he would never cry. Speaking during an interaction at a university in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, Aaditya Thackeray, the son of former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, alleged that 40 MLAs rebelled against the Sena leadership for their own seats and "money". "The current chief minister (Shinde) came to our house and cried .

Maha govt announces Rs 4 lakh compensation for Akola temple incident's kin

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced an assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased in the Akola Babuji Maharaj temple incident

Govt must help farmers with crop loss due to unseasonal rain: Anil Deshmukh

Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh on Sunday asked the Maharashtra government to help the orange and sweet lime growers affected by unseasonal rains and cotton farmers who were not getting the right price for their produce. Former Maharashtra minister Deshmukh was addressing a press conference in Nagpur to inform about the 'Vajramuth' rally of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which comprises the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), to be held here on April 16. To a query on unseasonal rains in Vidarbha and other parts of Maharashtra over the last few days and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis currentlty on a visit to Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, Deshmukh said while the farmers are facing trouble, the CM, his deputy and other government leaders have gone for "dev darshan" (to seek blessings of God). "It is not wrong, one can go for 'dev darshan', but the problems faced by farmers should not be ignored. In such times, the government should be ..

Mumbai Police register case against rapper for composing 'anti-govt' song

Mumbai Police have registered a case against rapper Umesh Khade for his song allegedly against government and the administrative system, an official said on Sunday. With this, the Maharashtra Police have registered cases against two different rappers in a week for allegedly targeting the government. In the latest case, a complaint was filed by an official of the Mumbai Police's Crime Intelligence Unit. Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered on Friday against rapper Umesh Khade, who stays in Wadala area of Mumbai, for his song "Bhongli keli janata" (referring to sufferings faced by people), the official said. Khade had uploaded the song on a social media platform having the account name Shambho, and the song went viral, he said. The case was registered against Khade under Sections 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill will between classes) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 67 (publishing or ...

Maha govt must take Covid-19 seriously, apprise citizens, says Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar on Friday said the state government should look into the COVID-19 situation immediately, as cases have been on the rise and apprise citizens. As per the state health department, Maharashtra had on Thursday recorded 803 fresh coronavirus cases and three fatalities that raised the tally of infections to 81,47,673, which includes 1,48,454 deaths. "During the recently concluded Assembly sessions, we had asked the state government about measures it was taking and the line of action it had decided to enable people's representatives to go back to their constituencies and work on dealing with the COVID-19 situation by taking officials into confidence," Pawar told reporters in Pune. During the Maha Vikas Aghadi rule, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government had been united in its fight against coronavirus. Expressing concern, Pawar said that while the number of infections was increasing by the day, no one seemed to be taking the situation seriously. "

Shiv Sena (UBT) hits out at Fadnavis, calls him 'failed' home minister

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Thursday called Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a "failed" home minister while claiming the law and order situation in the state was bad and farmers were committing suicide. An editorial in the Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not even giving a warning to China after it changed the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh. Pakistan is being issued hollow threats, but what about China which has made "incursion" in the Indian territory, it said. Earlier this week, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray dubbed Fadnavis a worthless home minister after a woman worker from the Thackeray-led faction was allegedly attacked by activists of rival Shiv Sena in Thane. Fadnavis had then hit back saying he was a "bullet" (kartoos), while Thackeray was a weak chief minister who had sacrificed his ideology for the sake of power and need not be given importance. Notably, the Supreme Court recently made strong

Mob attack on cops in Aurangabad unfortunate, maintain peace: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the incident of a mob allegedly attacking police personnel in Aurangabad city, now named Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, was unfortunate and appealed to leaders to avoid making provocative statements and giving political colour to it. A mob of more than 500 people allegedly attacked policemen on Wednesday night after some youth clashed among themselves. The incident, which lasted around an hour, took place in Kiradpura locality, which has a famous Ram temple where a huge crowd is expected to celebrate the Ram Navami on Thursday, police officials said. Speaking at his residence in Nagpur on the violence, Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, said, "The incident that happened in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar is very unfortunate and efforts are on to maintain peace in the area. However, some people are trying to vitiate the atmosphere there by giving provocative statements." "I feel that political leaders should know ho

Maha govt employees to get monetary benefits equal to OPS, call off strike

Maharashtra government employees agitating for restoration of the old pension scheme on Monday called off a week-long strike after a successful meeting between their representatives and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over key demand, a union leader said. Vishwas Katkar, the striking unions coordination committee's convenor, said the state government has 'in principle' agreed to extend monetary benefits equivalent to the OPS to employees who are part of the New Pension System (NPS). The government employees were on an indefinite strike since March 14 demanding restoration of the OPS, which was discontinued in 2005.

SC agrees to hear pleas seeking CBI probe in Palghar lynching case

The Supreme Court Monday agreed to list for hearing pleas seeking a CBI probe into the alleged lynching of three people in Palghar district in April 2020, after it was apprised that the Maharashtra government has consented to the investigation by the agency. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala was told by a lawyer appearing for one of the petitioners that the state government has also agreed for a CBI inquiry. The lawyer mentioned the matter saying the case can be heard and disposed of on any Friday or Monday. "We'll list it," the bench said. Earlier, in a change of stance, the Maharashtra government had told the Supreme Court it was ready to hand over to the CBI the investigation into the alleged lynching of three people, including two seers. The state government had earlier told the apex court that the Maharashtra Police has punished delinquent policemen for dereliction of duties in the alleged lynching incident and sought dismissal

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Onion growers will be given financial relief of Rs 350 a quintal: Maha CM

The Maharashtra government has accepted most of the demands made by farmers who are marching from Nashik to Mumbai and onion cultivators will be given financial relief of Rs 350 a quintal, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told the state Assembly on Friday and urged the protesters to end their nearly week-long stir. Earlier in the day, representatives of the agitating farmers and tribals said their 200km 'long march' has been halted for now, but they will resume their walk to Mumbai if the state government does not come out with concrete steps to address their demands. The foot march by thousands of farmers and tribals, which started from Dindori town in Nashik district in North Maharashtra on Sunday last, has reached Vasind town, around 80km from Mumbai The chief minister informed the House that he had held discussions with a farmers' delegation over 14 points, including forest rights, encroachment of forest land, transfer of land belonging to temple trusts and grazing grounds to ...

Maha govt gives family pension to employees in case of death in service

The Maharashtra government on Friday decided to give the option to avail one-time ex gratia or family pension to its employees in case of their death while in service. The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde here, official sources said. At present, under the National Pension System (NPS), there is a provision of ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of a state government employee in case of death while in service. The sources said if the option of family pension is availed, ex gratia payment will be scrapped. The cabinet decision has come at a time when state government employees are on an indefinite strike since March 14 seeking restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), which under a staffer gets a monthly pension equivalent to 50 per cent his/her last drawn salary. The contribution-based NPS was launched in January 2004.

HC irked with Maha govt's stand over no quota benefits for abandoned kids

The Bombay High Court on Thursday was irked with the Maharashtra government's persistent stand that the reservation benefits given to orphans cannot be extended to abandoned children. The state should instead be working as a protective umbrella for such kids, it said. The state government offers one per cent reservation in education to orphaned children. However, it refused to extend such a benefit to children who have been abandoned by their parents as they are not orphaned as per the definition of the term. A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale had taken up the issue after a petition was filed by a city-based NGO seeking reservation for two girls, abandoned by their parents. After being slammed by the court, the government had agreed to provide orphan certificates to the two girls so that they could seek reservation but had clarified that its stand was that there was a difference between orphaned and abandoned children. Irked with this stand, the court said

Maharashtra govt employees on strike for OPS amid appeals from CM Shinde

Lakhs of Maharashtra government employees on Wednesday continued their strike on the second day to demand the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), a day after Chief minister Eknath Shinde appealed to them to resume work. Smooth functioning in government hospitals and offices was affected due to the agitation. Vishwas Katkar, the convenor of the committee of nearly 35 state government employees, semi-government employees and teachers, said employees from 36 districts have joined the ongoing strike. He rejected Shinde's appeal made in the Assembly on Tuesday and insisted that their demands be met. On Monday, Shinde had also announced a panel comprising senior bureaucrats to look into the demand of state government employees to revert to the Old Pension Scheme. The panel will give its report in a time-bound manner, he said. Katkar said the state government employees held similar protests in 2018, following which a panel was formed but there was no movement on its report. The .

Maharashtra govt announces Rs 300 per quintal ex-gratia for onion farmers

The Maharashtra government on Monday announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 300 per quintal to onion farmers in the state who are severely affected by a steep fall in the prices. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced this decision in the state Legislative Assembly and said it will provide relief to onion growers. Prices of the kitchen staple have crashed in Maharashtra, resulting in farmers getting very little for their produce. Shinde said due to the rise in onion production, the price of the crop has seen a decline. He said onion is a very important crop in the state and this has become a sensitive issue.