Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday blamed the previous Congress-NCP Government for the “backwardness” of Vidarbha region in the State and promised to “fast-track” the region’s development.
Responding to a discussion on problems in Vidarbha in the lower House of the State Legislature, Mr.Fadnavis said, “Once prosperous Vidarbha faced continuous injustice for a long time resulting in the backwardness of the region. Previous (Congress-NCP) Government only provided lip service to the region and diverted funds meant to reduce backlog of the region.”
“Over Rs. 6000 crore meant for the development of Vidarbha between the year 2008 and 2011 were not provided to the region. In 2011, Rs. 4214 crore meant for Vidarbha were diverted to other parts of the State. You (Congress-NCP) government did not even respect the guidelines issued by the Governor of the State,” informed the CM who himself hails from the Vidarbha region and is a strong votary of a separate Vidarbha State.
Separate Vidarbha
The CM also claimed that the demand for a separate Vidarbha State was born out of “injustice done by one brother against another”.
But he assured that the newly formed BJP-Shiv Sena Government would expedite the region’s development.
“As suggested by Adarsh Mishra committee, we will focus on increasing the area under irrigation in Vidarbha. The long pending Gosikhurd irrigation project would be completed by March 2017 and its capacity would be increased to 2.50 lakh hectares by June 2018,” the CM told the lower House.
On the “apathy” among officers to work in Vidarbha, Mr. Fadnavis threatened action against officers who refuse to serve in the region.
Apart from speeding up reforms related to agriculture sector in Vidarbha, the CM also promised a slew of measures to attract industrial investment in the region.
“We will reduce power tariff for industries. Faster clearance will be provided for the proposed projects in the region. Formalities to set up Triple IIT and AIMS in Nagpur would be completed immediately,” informed the CM and added that Marathwada region of the State would also be developed on priority basis.
“The previous government only gave promises to Vidarbha in last 15 years. Now the schemes will not be limited on the paper but would be implemented on the ground,” he claimed.