The stamp of the Narendra Modi government was conspicuous on Maharashtra Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao’s address to the joint session of the Assembly and the Council on Wednesday.
The address, which came after the BJP-led minority government won the trust vote, referred several times to the announcements, initiatives and claims of Mr. Modi.
Stressing Mr. Modi’s announcement of “Minimum government, maximum governance,” Mr. Rao said the new BJP government in the State was committed to providing a citizen-centric administration.
“An e-portal and a mobile application ‘Apale Sarkar’ (My Government) will be launched within the next 100 days. Through this portal and mobile application, people can lodge their complaints and make suggestions,” Mr. Rao said.
Indicating that the government would scrutinise the financial decisions taken by the previous Congress-NCP government, Mr. Rao said the new government would issue a White Paper mentioning the present financial position of the State, liabilities, future plans and measures for a more transparent and effective expenditure.
Reiterating Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s announcement of bringing a Delivery of Services Guarantee Act, Mr. Rao said that it would assure citizens of their right to timely, effective and transparent public service.
Mr. Rao said the new government would take immediate steps to tackle issues of atrocities against the Backward Classes, women and other weaker sections, terrorism and left-wing extremism.
The Governor said the objective of “Housing for all: By 2022” would be achieved by constructing affordable houses through government and semi-government agencies. The private sector would get concessions in taxes and charges.
“The State will launch new policies to attract investment in electronics, manufacturing, SEZ, export-oriented units and IT sectors,” said Mr. Rao adding that Maharashtra’s participation would be more in “Make in India.”
Mr. Rao said that e-auction would be made compulsory for auctioning public resources such as sand, land and forest produce to bring in transparency.
Committing that projects such as building a grand memorial to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on an island in the Arabian Sea and a national memorial to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar at Indu Mill would be completed in a time-bound manner, the address tried to pacify the Shiv Sena by announcing a Marathi Language Research Centre in Mumbai for the development of Marathi.
