‘Waive ₹636-crore debt of welfare bodies’

Athawale says 3,900 reserved posts for disabled persons are lying vacant in State

July 15, 2017 01:03 am | Updated 08:01 am IST - Mumbai

Union Minister Ramdas Bandu Athawale at Parliament House

Union Minister Ramdas Bandu Athawale at Parliament House

Ramdas Athawale, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, has demanded that the State government waive the ₹636-crore debt owed by State-run undertakings and boards functioning for the welfare of backward classes and differently-abled people. The Republican Party of India (Athawale) chief also demanded that local self bodies in State fill up the vacant posts in the reserved category.

Mr. Athawale said, “The benefits of Centre and State’s welfare schemes should reach the target audience. The Centre recently made changes to the reservations for 2.68 crore disabled people in India. In 2016, it brought in a bill to raise the quota for differently-abled people in government jobs from 3% to 4%. In the education sector, the quota was raised to 5%.” Mr. Athawale said over 3,900 reserved posts for disabled persons were yet to be filled up in the State.

Mr. Athawale said, “In the Birhanmumbai Municipal Corporation, of the 79,000 posts, 1,700 are reserved for the differently-abled, but 1,200 posts are yet to be filled up. In Thane, of the 145 reserved posts, 122 have to be filled up, in the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust of the 1615 existing posts, only one post remains to be filled up out of the 88 reserved jobs. In the Central Railway Mumbai Division, of 31,000 employees, of the 817 posts reserved for the disabled 113 remain to be filled, in the Bombay Port Trust, of the 9,000 vacant posts not a single one has been filled and 270 posts are reserved for the disabled. In Thane Municipal Corporation, 122 posts have not been filled.”

Mr. Athawale said he would meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. “I will talk to him as he had recently waived the ₹34,000-crore debt of farmers in the State. I will demand for a similar waiver for the outstanding loans owed by State corporations such as the Maharashtra Rajya Itar Magas Vargiya Vitta Ani Vikas Mahamandal, Maharashtra State Commission for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes, Social Justice and Special categories, Mahatma Phule Backward Class Development Corporation Ltd, Vasantrao Naik Vimukta Jatis and Nomadic Tribes Development Corporation, Leather Industries Development Corporation. Collectively these corporations and bodies owe ₹636 crore to the State and I will talk to Mr. Fadnavis to waive the debt.”

He said there were 40-odd instances where the welfare bodies had issued loans to unscrupulous projects and the money had not been spent for the intended purpose. He said the State had to take a more pragmatic approach to carry on with the development plans.

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