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Back to Deputy CM of Maharashtra
Achievements
of The Shiv Shahi Government Between 1995-99 :
Tanker
Free Maharashtra by 2000 A.D.
:The government accorded top priority to make the State 'Tanker
Free' by 2000 A. D. The Rs.10,000 crore fund for the programme is
being raised by the state under the Small Savings while the Union
Government of India would release 75 per cent of the amount as loan
to the State.
Freezing
of Prices of Five Essential Commodities : Among the first decisions
of this government for the poor masses of the state was that the
prices of five essential food-grain items viz. wheat, rice, sugar,
dal and edible oil would to be kept fixed at June 1995 level for
a period of next five years in all ration shops. The State Government
would provide Rs.85 crore by way of subsidy each year to hold back
the prices of sugar.
A
Toilet for each Rural Family : The programme of "A toilet each
for every rural family" was undertaken from January 30, 1996. Five
lakh toilets were to be constructed every year under this programme.
Total
Literacy by 2000 A. D. : In its efforts to universalise education,
the Government provides free education to all up to 10th standard.
It also gives top priority to women's education and offers free
travel in state transport buses for village girls studying from
5th to 10th standards free text books, uniforms and writing material
to all school children up to 4th standard in 103 educationally backward
tehsils provision for primary schools for the children of sugarcane
cutters who migrate from their homes to sugarcane growing areas
during harvesting. The Government took a vow to bring about total
literacy by 2000 A.D.
Value
Education : The government introduced value education as part
of school curricular and it extends to all standards at the school
level. This was for the first time that such an attempt was being
made in the country. The 10 major components in the value education
were: patriotism, national integration, communal harmony, equality
of sex, dignity of labour, scientific attitude, sensitivity, humanity,
punctuality and tidiness.
Self-Employment
and Employment : The government had launched a 'time-bound programme'
of Self-Employment and Employment with effect from 15th August,
1997 to provide job opportunities to 27 lakh job-seekers. The programme
was aimed at creating 17 lakh job opportunities in three years.
Jeevandayee
Yojana : The resources and infrastructure of the government
and municipal hospitals will be pooled, adopting multi-pronged measures
to provide medical relief to the poor. A separate fund, namely `Chief
Minister's Medical Relief Fund' would provide financial assistance
to those below poverty line.
The Government planned to raise a permanent corpus of Rs.250 crore
for the purpose so that the income generated through proper investment
of the fund could be gainfully utilised for the benefit of the poor.
The government decided to execute the Maharashtra Health System
Development Project with financial assistance of Rs.727 crore from
the World Bank and also implement the second phase of AIDS Control
Programme, costing about Rs.258 crore, with the assistance of the
World Bank.
Utilising Krishna River Under the Bachchhawat Award : A tripartite
Krishna Water Tribunal awarded 594 TMC of water to Maharashtra to
be harnessed by the year 2000. The successive Congress (I) governments
earlier failed to take a serious note of the award. Yet these governments
did almost nothing except conceptualising and designing various
irrigation schemes which were not executed due to want of funds.
The work of harnessing the quantity of river water in the Krishna
valley received momentum only after the government came into power.
The government set up Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation
to impound and harness the 594 TMC water. It was a mammoth task
to construct 871 projects which included 33 large, 71 medium and
767 small irrigation schemes. Out of these, 506 projects including
8 large, 34 medium and 464 small were completed by August 1997.
About 22.56 lakh hectares of land was to be brought under irrigation
once the projects were completed. The estimated cost for this massive
task was approximately Rs.7,100 crore.
The MKVDC, which has its headquarters at Pune, was assigned the
task of raising Rs.3,600 crore from financial institutions and through
public and private placements of Krishna Bonds. It was for the first
time in the history of the State that funds had been raised through
public issue. We were confident that these projects would be completed
before the deadline and the water would be utilised in the Southern/Western
Maharashtra.
Special
Schemes for Backward Classes : Some of the measures initiated
during our tenure were: Separate budgetary allocation of Rs. 600
crore Encouraging and promoting inter-caste marriages, cash incentive
for preventing school dropouts among girl students, special training
for appearing for competitive examinations, one ashramshala for
backward class students in each district, new 51 hostels to be opened
by the government Zilla parishads to open 90 hostels for backward
class students, separate schools for children belonging to nomadic
tribes and Vimukta Jatis.
Model
Village Scheme : The government was determined to make a village
a primary unit of planning, as visualised by Mahatma Gandhi "self-sufficient
villages". The Model Village Scheme was therefore revitalised in
the following manner: Development of a self-reliant village by adopting
integrated watershed development projects. Implementing watershed
and wasteland development programmes along with various human resource
development activities. Plan and organise village industries. Establishment
of a mechanism of interaction between developmental agencies and
the people. Creation of social awareness among the village community.
Scarcity-prone and drought-prone villagers were given priority.
Sports
Arena : The Coalition Government in their manifesto had promised
to establish a Sports University equipped with modern infrastructure.
The high level experts committee recommended selection and training
on scientific lines of selected children within the age group of
8 to 14 in a few selected sports discipline in a concentrated manner.
Sports academies at 14 different places in Maharashtra, were selected
on the basis of tradition, availability of infrastructure and potential.
A monthly expenditure of Rs.3,500 to Rs.4,000 is incurred on each
entrant.Besides sport coaching the entrant's academic educational
needs are also looked after. Scientific equipment and experienced
coaches impart sports coaching to nearly 650 entrants in 11 sports
academies at the moment. Rigorous training for the next 6 to 7 years
will definitely show some positive results. The State has earmarked
Rs.113 crore, for the next five years for the sports university.
Students from the eleven Kreeda Prabodhinis, which have become functional,
have won Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals at National Level competitions.
Measures
to set up Sports Complexes at 7 district headquarters at the cost
of Rs.2 crore each have also been taken.
Maharashtra
Cadet Corps (MCC) : The government then set up the Maharashtra
Cadet Corps on the lines of the National Cadet Corps. Joining the
MCC was been made compulsory for all students studying in 9th standard
from the academic year 1996.
Sainik
Schools : A decision was taken to start one Sainik School in
every district at the secondary and higher secondary levels from
the academic year 1996-97. Six such schools were set up in Dhule,
Usmanabad, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Amravati and Nanded districts. Another
seven were coming up in Pune, Sangli, Thane, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri,
Ahmednagart and Aurangabad districts.
Caring
for senior citizens : Houses for the aged : The
government devised Matoshri Vridhashram Yojana, a scheme to provide
Homes for the Aged, through the State assistance in all the districts.
Such Vridhashrams have already started functioning in Sholapur and
Nashik districts.
Nav-Sanjeevan
Yojana : The thrust of the scheme is to ensure that no tribal
child or adult suffers for want of food, water or medical treatment.
The most visible positive impact of the scheme was witnessed in
Melghat region of Amravati Division where the number of infant deaths
came down dramatically. Timely supply of clean drinking water, essential
items like food grains and salt and medical treatment made this
possible. A network of all weather roads would soon improve the
communication specially during monsoon.
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