YEARS OF REBUILDING INDIA - Maharashtra 140620… · REBUILDING . PRIORITY Maharashtra A TRUSTED DESTINATION Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made all efforts to focus on the development

PM NAGPUR VISIT n DIALOGUE: CHIEF MINISTER n NITI AAYOG MEETING n ASIATIC SOCIETY

Vol.6 Issue 05 n MAY 2017 n `50 n pAges 52

YEARS OF

I n d I A

REBUILdInG

PRIORITYMaharashtra

A trusted destinAtionPrime Minister Narendra Modi has made all efforts to focus on the development of Maharashtra. The State has not just got support from him, but has also been a platform to launch and celebrate his initiatives

1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi performing jalpoojan of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj memorial; 2. The Prime Minister with Pune girl Vaishali Yadav; 3. The Prime Minister at the Make in India Week; 4. The Prime Minister with Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other dignitaries at the Smart Cities function in Pune; 5. The Prime Minister inaugurates GE facility at Chakan; 6. The Prime Minister at the signing of MIDC and TwinStar Display Technologies MoU; 7. The Prime Minister performing bhoomipujan of Dr Ambedkar memorial at Indu Mill

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CONTENTSWhat’s Inside

05Column

DEVENDRA FADNAVIS

The Chief Minister of Maharashtra writes on the three years of the Union Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In these three years, the country has steadily transformed into a nation that is competent, enabled and fully geared to face challenges confidently and emerge as a global power. The time was also good for States like Maharashtra that recieved immense support, guidance, global opportunities and welfare programmes dedicated to various sections to build an inclusive society

03MAhARAShTRA AhEAD n MAY 2017

d i s c l a i m e r : v i e w s a n d o p i n i o n s e x p r e s s e d i n t h e m a g a z i n e a r e t h o s e o f w r i t e r s

32 maharashtra

SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS

With a competent leadership of Chief Minister and consistent follow-ups on State-related issues in New Delhi, Maharashtra has overcome various challenges

09 Column

NITIN GADKARI

The Union Government has plans to develop a network of National highways in Maharashtra by 2019, says Union Minister for Road Transport, highways and Shipping

36 Dialogue

DEVENDRA FADNAVIS

In the debut show titled, Mi Mukhyamantri Boltoye on perennial agriculture, the Chief Minister established a direct dialogue with the farmers of the State

12 Column

SURESH PRABHU

The Railway Ministry is inclined to accelerate projects stalled in Maharashtra for years and make the daily commute of people easy, says Union Minister for Railways

46 lanDmark

ASIATIC SOCIETY, MUMBAI

The famous location, Town hall is known for India’s famous library and museum housed in a heritage building of colonial architecture built in the 1800s

14 Column

PRAKASH JAVADEKAR

New initiatives have been launched for improving the standards of higher education, says Union Minister for human Resource Development

48 nagpur Visit

ERA OF DIGITAL ECONOMY

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ushers in a new era of economic reforms through launch of BhIM-Aadhaar Pay App during his recent visit to Nagpur

28 aChieVements

GROWTH FOR ALL

With Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas as its vision, the Union Government has been devising and implementing welfare schemes that serve each and every citizen

EDIToR-IN-ChIEFBrijesh singh

ASSIGNMENT EDIToRajay ambekar

EDIToRmeenal Joglekar

ExECUTIVE EDIToRkriti lalla

TEAM Co-oRDINATIoNEDITING

suresh Wandile(Deputy Director)

SAlES AND CIRCUlATIoNashwini pujari

(Sub-Editor)CoVER DESIGNgotresh Joshi

meDia transasiaASSoCIATE EDIToR

Jyoti VermaASSISTANT EDIToR

pallavi singhART DIRECToR

rehana Farhan shaikh

ChAIRMANJ.s. uberoiPRESIDENT

Xavier Collaco

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Transforming India

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The Union Government under the strong leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will complete three years of its term on May 26, 2017. In these three years, India has achieved milestones of growth and progress. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dreamt of making India a global super

power by 2020. India is marching to transform this dream into reality.

Despite global economic slowdown, India’s economy has shown great stability with growth in GDP. It has been acknowledged globally that India has become the fastest growing major economy in the world. In these three years, many incidents have taken place globally that have given a boost to Indians’ self-respect and self-confidence. The country’s strong position has made mandatory for the world to consider its role and view on important global issues.

The decision of demonetisation has helped in curbing black money and corruption, resulting in developing an attitude of digital transaction. It has also helped India move steadily on the path of digital revolution. The May issue has included detailed information about the decisions taken by the Centre. The specialty of the issue is columns by Union Cabinet Ministers from Maharashtra. The articles present an overview of what Maharashtra has received from the Centre in the last three years.

The Directorate General of Information and Public Relations has started an innovative programme Mi Mukhyamantri Boltoye. In the programme, the Chief Minister directly interacts with citizens of the State and answers their questions through e-mail and WhatsApp. Presently, the programme is broadcast on Sahyadri channel of Doordarshan and aired on Akashwani. In the first programme, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis answered agriculture and irrigation-related questions. We have included a special article on Chief Minister’s dialogue with the people. The Chief Minister answered questions related to farm produce pricing, crop pattern, irrigation management, agriculture loan, Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan and other related topics in detail. The next topic of the programme is on good governance. The people of Maharashtra should definitely send their questions in time for the Chief Minister.

The informative edition of May also includes articles on the Prime Minister’s recent visit to Nagpur on the occasion of the 126th birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the third meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog, and the glory of Asiatic library of Mumbai.

We look forward to your suggestions and feedback. Enjoy the issue.

Brijesh singhEditor-in Chief

Vol. 6 ISSUE 5 n MAY 2017 n `50 n PAGES 52

On May 26, 2017, the Union Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will complete three years of its governance, achieving milestones of growth and prosperity. During the period, India has steadily transformed into a nation that is fully geared to face challenges and is emerging as a global superpower, says Chief Minister DevenDra FaDnavis

Adignitary participat-ing in the recent In-dia Today Conclave in Mumbai shared an anecdote about Prime

Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with US President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington. During his discussions with the US President, the Prime Minister laid maximum emphasis on the neces-sity of implementing digital initia-tives to bring accelerated global growth. Later, Barack Obama com-mented that he had not come across any other Head of the State with such detailed and deep knowledge about digital initiatives.

It is only due to this unique

characteristic of Hon. Narendra Modi that India has soared as an important country globally. Under the proicient leadership of Hon. Narendra Modi, India has not only become an important partner in various global activities, but also transformed as a leader in many ar-eas. On May 26, 2017 the Govern-ment at the Centre will be complet-ing its three years tenure. A country that was devoid of direction, lead-ership and self-conidence steadily transformed into a country that is smart, promising, competent, en-abled and fully geared to face any challenges conidently. he entire credit for this goes to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

COLUMNChief Minister

IncREdIBLE And InvIncIBLE


“The ImplemenT-aTIon of The GST wIll brInG huGe relIef. wITh The decISIon To preSenT The unIon budGeT for 2017-18 on aprIl 1 and ImplemenT The Same, IT haS been poSSIble To uSe The fundS for varIouS developmenTal workS”


Ater taking over the reins of the Union Government, Narendra Modi called himself the chief servant of the country devoted to serve the people 24 hours a day and he proved his words in letter and spirit. With consistent eiciency, he has launched several initiatives and welfare schemes to reinforce inclusive development in the country.

In 2014, the people of India elected Naren-dra Modi with a thumping majority. People of India expressed their conidence that he alone can bring about a comprehensive and all-inclu-sive development in the country. In the last three years, this conidence has grown further and is quite visible by the various election victories reg-istered by his political party across the country. his whole journey I would like to explain from aspiration to self-conidence.

ENERGETIC PERSONALITYWith the energy of working round the clock, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not just cov-ered the country, but also made friends globally. He has made successful eforts to pass on this energy to the people of India. With his working style, political acumen, modern and innovative thoughts, he has let an indelible mark globally. By creating Brand India image, it has become mandatory for the world to consider India’s role and view on important global issues.

We are fortunate that we are working under the impressive and incredible and charismatic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In last three years Hon. Narendra Modi has trans-formed the mentality of Indians into enthusiasm and positivity.

THE CHANGEMAKERPrim Minister Narendra Modi has implemented many innovative schemes in letter and spirit transforming the face of the country. To bring re-forms in the Indian economy, he was successful in getting the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act passed. he implementation of the GST Act will bring huge relief to the common people. With the decision to present the Union Budget for 2017-18 on February 1 and implement the same, it has been possible to use the funds for various developmental works immediately.

his year provision of `10 lakh crore has been made for loans to farmers. he decision will prove beneicial for farmers and farming sector and will help in doubling the income of farmers. Important steps have been taken for self-reliance in the defence sector. India’s indigenous super-sonic interceptor missile was successfully tested on March 1, 2017. A world record of launching 104 satellites simultaneously was also registered during this period. Our country is becoming self suicient in Space Science. Government has taken important steps in telecommunication sector also.

To encourage more and more people to do digital transactions, the BHIM app has been launched by the Government of India. Ofering a wide spectrum of services, the app has been downloaded by more than 1.5 crore citizens. National Health Policy has been announced for a healthy India. his is going to be extremely beneicial to common people at the lowest rungs of society.

With Jan Dhan Yojana, 27.97 lakh poor

06 MAhARAShTRA AhEAD n MAY 2017

prime minister narendra modi addressing the gathering after dedicating the paradip refinery in odisha to the nation in February 2016

prime minister narendra modi speaking at a joint meeting of us Congress on Capitol hill in Washington in June 2016

people could open a bank account. An amount of `63,885 crore has been credited to these ac-counts. his is the irst time in the history of In-dia that such an economic revolution has taken place. In the seven decades of independence, this is the irst time we have been successful in bring-ing poor people into the mainstream economy.

With a view to accelerate employment and self-employment, loans of more than `6 crore have been disbursed through Mudra Yojana. Under the Ujjwala scheme, 2 crore gas connec-tions have been distributed to women. Even af-ter seven decades of independence, 18,000 vil-lages of India are deprived of power supply. he Prime Minister reached power to 12,586 villages. Power to the rest of the villages will be accom-plished by 2018.

With their leader active 24 hours a day, the Union Government too had to follow suit and be alert and active round the clock. his change in work style at the highest level had to be imbibed by all of us, and its positive results are already been seen. An environment of vigour has been created across the country, relecting on India’s development index that has shown upward trend in past three years. his has built conidence in global experts that the Indian economy is be-coming stable and powerful.

DEMONETISATIONWith the announcement of demonetisation on November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented an ideal before the world. he initiative against black money in the country and corruption proved to be his master stroke. Leaving aside a few opposing all correct moves, most of the citizens agreed with the decision and considered it appropriate. he common people stood by the move, seeing it as an act in the high-est interest of the country. For some time, com-mon people had to face troubles, but being aware of the transparency and utility of the move, they endured the pain and showed solidarity with the Government.

he immensely stupendous conidence of the people earned by Narendra Modi was relected in the decisions taken by people ater demon-etisation. One of these was his party’s success in various elections.

SABKA SAATH, SABKA VIKASNarendra Modi gave us the slogan Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (collective eforts, inclusive growth). he message made people across sections of In-dia connect with him and lay faith in him.

he Prime Minister aims to establish India as a global superpower by the year 2020. he aim has led Union Government to launch pro-grammes for every section of society. he people of India have recognised these eforts, rendering their complete support to Narendra Modi. his support will help in accomplishing his mission of making India a global power.

ASSISTANCE TO MAHARASHTRACertain obstacles in the path of building the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj memorial in the Arabian Sea were promptly resolved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Appropriate funds have been provided for Smart Cities Mission and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for the State. Mumbai

While the three years of Narendra Modi as India’s

Prime Minister left an indelible mark of his work globally, it has also brought many advantages to Maharashtra. The State was a major contributor in realising the Make in India dream, as it was honoured with the responsibility of hosting the first Make in India Week in Mumbai in February 2016. The State also hosted the International Maritime

Summit. The issue of a likely international monument of Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar at Indu Mill was delayed for a year. However, as soon as the Union Government came to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed all the hurdles in its path. He himself came for the ground-breaking ceremony of the monument. Today, the Indu Mill land is in possession of the State Government.

ambedkar memorIal aT Indu mIll

With Narendra Modi active for 24 hours a day, the entire Government has become alert and active. Its results are already showing. An envi-ronment of vigour has been created across India.” —DevenDra FaDnavis

Chief Minister


YEARS OF

I n d I A

REBUILdInG

coastal project has been approved and a inal no-tiication has been released.

All assistance is being provided to Nagpur Metro that will now be running in stipulated time. he accelerated work on the project has ushered in an environment of dynamism and vi-vacity in Nagpur city. Pune Metro has also been accelerated.

Last year, the Government of India provided drought relief assistance of ̀ 3,050 crore to Maha-rashtra. his is the highest such assistance from the Centre so far. A decision has been taken to create an independent company for speedy com-pletion of railway projects in the State. Approval

has been given to an oil reinery in Konkan. It will be implemented through various public sec-tor companies, and is likely to generate employ-ment for about 1 lakh persons. Maharashtra has also been beneitted by the skill development ini-tiative launched by the Centre. In the past three years, people from across sections—farmers, youth, students, women, businessmen and entre-preneurs—have beneitted by these schemes and decisions.

In 2016, the Union Government chose Mum-bai for hosting the irst Make in India event in February. he event saw Maharashtra tapping big companies and large amount of foreign in-vestment coming into the State. he State also hosted the irst BRICS Friendship City Enclave in Mumbai. We are thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for helping us contribute to In-dia’s success story.

IMPRESSIVE COMPANIONSHIPWe are bent on creating a new, smart and power-ful Maharashtra. Our eforts are receiving con-sistent support from Government of India un-der the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is only through this cooperation that the dream of a prosperous, opulent and enabled Ma-harashtra will come to life. he entire population of Maharashtra joins me in extending best wish-es and congratulations to the Union Government on its successful three years under the proicient leadership of Narendra Modi. n



“The SuperSonIc

InTercepTor mISSIle

manufacTured

In IndIa waS

SucceSSfully

TeSTed on

march 1, 2017. a

world record

of launchInG

104 SaTellITeS

SImulTaneouSly

waS alSo

reGISTered durInG

ThIS perIod”

Three yeArs of coNsIsTeNT supporT ANd GuIdANce

l Centre’s quick decisions and delivery

mechanism have paved the way for en-

forcing big-ticket, multi-sector projects in

Maharashtra.

l The Centre has given a huge impetus to

Magnetic Maharashtra with multi-sector

mega projects gaining momentum and

promising better socio-economic develop-

ment.

l Whether it was the objective of transform-

ing Mumbai into an international inancial centre, an international arbitration centre

at Bandra–Kurla Complex, Dr. Babasaheb

Ambedkar Memorial at Indu Mills or Chha-

trapati Shivaji memorial in the Arabian

Sea, all got support.

prime minister narendra modi greeting public in Bhubaneswar on February 7, 2016

TOwARdS AccELERATEd dEvELOpmEnTBefore 2014, the length of National Highways in Maharashtra was 5,700 km. Within three years of the current Union Government, the length of present and proposed National Highways in Maharashtra reached 22,387 km. As Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, he has an ambitious target of establishing this network by 2019, says nitin GaDkari

Although I am a Union Minister, I am proud to belong to Maharash-tra. I worked in the State as Min-ister for Public Works Department during 1995-99. herefore, the en-

tire State is spread out before me. I believe that the works in Maharashtra should be carried out through Union Ministries. his is the reason why the quantum of work done in the State through my Ministry overtakes the work done in all pre-ceding years. Works in all the areas of Maharash-tra—Vidarbha, Khandesh, Marathwada, Mumbai, Western Maharashtra and Konkan—are going on through the Union Ministry of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping. he said works are to the tune of `1 lakh crore.

COLUMNUnion Cabinet Minister

prime minister narendra modi speaking at the dedication ceremony of the environment-friendly electric bus for members of parliament under the go green initiative in new Delhi on December 21, 2015. lok sabha speaker smt. sumitra mahajan and union ministers nitin gadkari, m. Venkaiah naidu, anant geete, prakash Javadekar and Jitendra singh are also seen



Projects worth `24,000 crore are going on in Nagpur city and district, and more to the tune of `58,355 crore have been proposed. Contracts worth `8,725 crore have been awarded. A detailed plan for seaplane under tourism development of Nagpur has been submitted to Maharashtra Mari-time Board; it is expected to be approved soon.

IMPORTANT DECISIONShe Union Government has taken an initiative to make Maharashtra free of railway crossings. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. According to the MoU, the State Gov-ernment will be spending on land acquisition on State roads and other facilities. he construction work of overbridges will be undertaken through equal sharing of expenses between Central Road Fund and Ministry of Railways. For railway over-bridges on National Highways, total expense will be borne by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). In the irst stage, 236 railway over-bridges are being constructed. A fund of `100 crore has been made through Central Road Fund for the work.

Under Ministry of Shipping, the development work at JNPT and Mumbai ports is in progress. he rivers considered are Amba, Dabhol Creek, Ravindra Creek, Rewanda Creek, Savitri Creek, Shastri, Jaigad, Rajpuri Creek, Vasai Creek, Kalyan–hane–Mumbai, Arunavati, Godavari, Manjra, Nag, Painganga–Wardha and Vainganga–Pranhita.

I was very sad about the collapse of the bridge

“a SancTIon haS been provIded for 12 JeTTIeS In maharaShTra under SaGarmala Scheme wITh a fundInG of `248 crore. The work of deTaIled proJecT reporT (dpr) for The rIverS In The STaTe under The new naTIonal waTerwayS Scheme wIll be compleTed In Three monThS”

(From top) union minister for road transport and highways and shipping nitin gadkari at the inauguration of mumbai port trust’s second chemical berth at pir pau, mahul, and with Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at the new ferry wharf (Bhaucha Dhakka) in mumbai

on Savitri river in Mahad. I took responsibility for the mishap and announced that the bridge will be rebuilt in six months. he bridge is going to be inaugurated on June 4 and I am satisied that I was able to keep my word.

FOCUS ON RELIGIOUS TOURISM An important part of our vision is that the roads leading to religious places should be excellent. I am especially happy to undertake the work of both the palanquin routes for Vitthal Wari at Pandharpur, as this has been a concern for entire Maharashtra. he DPR for the 270 km Dnyanesh-war Palakhi Marg Alandi–Pune–Phaltan–Pand-harpur with an expenditure of `3,900 crore and 104 km Sant Tukaram Palakhi Marg Patas–Va-sunde–Baramati–Indapur–Akluj–Bhondale with an expenditure of `2,025 crore are in inal stages, and the tenders for the projects will be loated in next two months.

Excellent technology should be used while providing facilities and security to Warkaris walk-ing along the palanquin. Pictures of saints, Ab-hangwani at various locations on LED screens, and four-laning of Palakhi Marg with beautii-cation are expected to be completed within two years. As the entire route is concretised, a special bitumen technique will be used so that Warkaris do not face the pangs of hot roads. We are trying to schedule the ground-breaking ceremony of the work on the auspicious Ashadhi Ekadashi.

Nanded–Bidar, Nanded–Deglur and Nanded–Udgir roads leading to Nanded Gurudwara have been declared as National Highways. Most of the roads leading to Nanded have now been declared as National Highways.

PROJECTS IN MAHARASHTRASanctions have been obtained for drating a DPR for Mumbai–Goa ocean highway and 540 km Re-


was Port–Jaigad to Arunda–Kiranapani–Vengur-la Coastal Road with an expenditure of `10,341 crore. Parallel to the Goa highway and running by the side of the ocean, the Dahanu–Vasai–Al-ibag–Shriwardhan–Dabhol–Ganapatipule–Rat-nagiri–Devgad–Malwan–Vengurla ocean high-way will be a milestone for tourism development in Konkan.

he tenders for the same will be loated soon. he work on Nashik–Pune road has been com-pleted except the work on the ive bye-passes. With this, the Nashik–Pune distance will be cov-ered in four hours instead of the current eight hours. A decision has been made to transfer the Kolhapur–Sangli–Solapur road to the NHAI. he DPR work for the same is in progress.

DPRs with an expected expenditure of `11,765 crore for completion of work on the roads going through cities where bye-pass has been cre-ated are being prepared. heir work orders will be out within three months.

Famous for ishing, hal village is located in Alibag in Raigad district of Maharashtra. Chha-trapati Shivaji Maharaj built a fort here for the Maratha army to check the British and Portu-guese. In 1852, the British developed a lighthouse here. his lighthouse on the South shores of Mumbai works as a landmark for ships arriving and departing from Mumbai. he island can be reached by speed boats either from hal, Mandwa or Gateway of India.

he stone island with an expanse of 18 acres

has a dilapidated fort, some small temples and many points from where one can have a magnii-cent view of the Arabian Sea. Construction of a passenger jetty at this location was essential. In-stead of depending on the tide to reach the island, a 150 m long and 4 m wide concrete jetty is being built here at a cost of `15 crore.

his is an excellent location for a camping site and Swiss cottages, though landscaping will have to be carried out, and facilities organised for guided tours, heritage walk, light and sound show, cafeteria, amphitheatre, water sports, ferry services from Gateway of India and ferry wharf. A travel operator will develop all these facilities.

Nine lighthouses from Maharashtra and Goa—at Sunk Rock, Kanhoji Island, Uttan Point, Korlai Fort, Jaigad, Ratnagiri, Devgad, Vengurla Rocks, Tolkeshwar Point, Fort Aguada and Sao George—are part of the project.

To ensure that the works from Maharash-tra do not get stuck at other Ministries in Delhi, I coordinate as a State representative. I was successful in bringing online projects like Nagpur and Pune Metro, Pune Airport, Pune Ring Road, AIIMS and IIIT at Nagpur. All of us, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, are working for Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur and other cit-ies and the overall development of Maharashtra with zeal and power. n

–As told to Sunil Chawake

MAhA TArGeTsl The Union Govern-ment has taken the initiative to make Maharashtra free of railway crossings; an MoU has been signed for this.

l Through Ministry of Shipping, develop-ment work at JNPT and ports in Mumbai is in progress.

l Under Central Road Fund, `5,668 crore has been sanctioned for road construction work in Maharashtra.

l An objective is to better the roads leading to religious places such as the palanquin routes for Pandharpur Wari.

l The Kolhapur–San-gli–Solapur road will be transferred to the NHAI. The DPR work for the same is in progress.

For Maharashtra, Palakhi

Marg at Pandharpur, a new

bridge on Savitri river in Mahad,

Mumbai–Goa Highway, Butibori–

Tuljapur Highway and Nashik–

Pune Highway hold importance.

Besides giving attention to

these, five work orders in the

`7,263 crore Butibori–Tuljapur

project and eight work orders

in the `11,747 crore Mumbai–

Goa Project have been issued.

Mumbai–Goa Highway will be

developed as a Green Highway.

The tenders for Aurangabad–

Telwadi road have been floated,

and the work will start soon.

The 11-km-long tunnel from

Maharashtra at Autram Ghat

would be the main attraction of

this road.

The Union Ministry of Road

Transport, Highways and

Shipping has achieved the

State’s targets for 2016-17, and

work orders for 3,698 km have

been issued. During 2017-18,

it has been proposed to declare

3,325 km of new highways

in Maharashtra. The 2017-18

Annual plan of the State for road

construction costing `54,000

crore has been approved by the

Ministry in principle, and the

first stage of `25,000 crore

has been given administrative

sanction.

Under the Central Road

Fund, an amount of `5,668

crore has been sanctioned

for road construction work in

Maharashtra.

The proJecTS on prIorITy


YEARS OF

I n d I A

REBUILdInG

Railways happen to be one of the major departments of Government of India making provision of funds for the State of Maharashtra to the extent that has not been visible since independence.

During the period 2014 to 2016, the Indian Rail-ways provided funds to the extent of `3,586.7 crore to Maharashtra. For the current inancial year, the Ministry of Railways has made a provision of a whopping `6,000 crore for the State. he Railways are spending `52,614 crore on the ongoing works. Considering the provisions for Railways in the cur-rent budget, the amount comes to a huge `1,37,651 crore. his provision of such an amount is like a dream for Maharashtra.

For the irst time ater independence, the Min-istry has made a provision of `1,37,000 crore for Mumbai and Maharashtra. We closely understand the issues of Mumbai suburban local trains. It is with this that projects worth `556 crore have been start-ed for Mumbai alone. During the last three years, works such as doubling of 17 routes in the State, 10 new railway routes of 932 km with funds to the tune of `24,304 crore, and broad gauging of 1014 km of tracks with funds of `5,311 crore have begun.

If prolonged projects are accelerated and my eforts to ensure the daily commute for millions of Mumbaikars is made easy, I shall consider myself lucky. I insist that all projects announced by the Railways be completed in a stipulated time.

PROJECTS TO BE COMPLETEDhe work on ten railway routes, namely Nagar–Beed–Parli, Gadchiroli–Wadsa, Baramati–Lonand, Wardha–Gadchiroli, Wardha–Nanded, Gondia–Jabalpur, Wardha–Balharshah, Wardha–Nagpur, Karad–Chiplun and Dighi Bunder–Chiplun have started. Track doubling work on 21 routes such as Bhusawal–Jalgaon, Kalyan–Kasara, Mudkhed–Parbhani, Daund–Gulbarga, Pen–Roha, Wardha–Nagpur and Rajnanadgaon–Nagpur (third line), Pune–Lonavala and Pune–Miraj–Londha have also begun. he projects sanctioned during the current railway budget amounting to `31,881.96 crore in-clude 16 projects of Vaibhavwadi–Kolhapur, Itarsi–Nagpur, Pune–Nashik, Rahuri–Shani Shinganapur and Karad–Chiplun.

Electriication is being carried out at nine railway routes of Pune–Kolhapur, Daund–Bara-mati, Miraj–Kurduwadi–Latur, Dhule–Chalis-gaon, Jhansi–Uran and others at an expenditure of `2149.65 crore. he work on three rail routes connecting ports of Dighi–Jaigad, Roha–Dighi and Harapur–Rewas has been taken up on public-pri-vate partnership basis.

Without making any fuss, the State has received a record 28 new trains during 2014-17. hese in-clude weekly and bi-weekly trains such as Bandra–Amritsar, Howrah–Pune, Mumbai–Gorakhpur, Pune–Gorakhpur, Pune–Lucknow, Solapur–Vi-japur, Mumbai Jammu Tawi Swaraj Express and



The Ministry of railways has installed 4,403 bio-toilets, 54 new toi-lets and 54 toilets on ‘pay and use’ basis in Maharash-tra. under swachh rail swachh Bharat and hamara station hamari shaan, 36 stations from Mumbai have been kept clean.”

—suresh Prabhu

Union Railways Minister

The Ministry of Railways is inclined to accelerate the Railway projects stalled in Maharashtra for years. The Ministry has made a provision of `1,37,000 crore for the State, says Union Minister for Railways suresh Prabhu

FUndS, SpEEd And BOOST TO mAhARAShTRA

Pune–Indore Express.Considering the demands of passengers, 82

new halts have been provided in Maharashtra. his apart, the work on Wi-Fi at three stations, 38 esca-lators and 14 lits at railway stations is underway. Since unmanned crossings oten become death traps for people, lyover and underpass work has been completed at 182 crossings in the State in the last three years.

PRIORITY TO CLEANLINESSCleanliness in trains and at stations is always an issue for discussion. he Ministry of Railways has installed 4,403 bio-toilets, 54 new toilets and 54 toi-lets on ‘pay and use’ basis in Maharashtra. Under projects Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat and Hamara Station Hamari Shaan, 36 stations from Mumbai have been kept clean with the help of NGOs.

he Ministry has initiated projects worth `51,000 crore for Mumbai Suburban stations. Vi-rar–Dahanu, Panvel–Karjat, Borivli –Kalwa routes, a new Suburban Railway corridor between Ban-dra–Virar and Virar–Vasai–Panvel, Accelerated El-evated Railway Corridor from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to Panvel are included in the same.

Increasing the height of 160 platforms on

suburban line, installation of 65 new escalators in addition to the 37 escalators activated during the last two and a half years at various stations, 42 new foot-over bridges and 54 lits are other works undertaken in the State. Emergency Medi-cal Room at 15 stations and 108 ambulances that would be available to all stations have also been started. New booking oices at 13 stations, Ticket Reservation attendants at 19 stations and Passen-ger Ticket Service Centres have been started at 37 stations. Ater increasing the height of all 590 platforms on the Harbour line, local trains with 12 instead of nine compartments have started plying on the route.

EXTENDING HARBOUR LINEProjects such as extension of Harbour line up to Goregaon, starting AC local trains, new buildings for Andheri, Jogeshwari and Goregaon stations, new station at Oshiwara, additional two platforms at Diva station on the hane–Kalyan route, and RoRo goods transport service at Vasai station to re-duce traic congestion at hane due to additional traic are some other projects undertaken by the Ministry of Railways. n

–As told to Mangesh Vaishampayan


“durInG The laST Three yearS, workS Such aS doublInG of 17 raIlway rouTeS, 10 new raIlway rouTeS of 932 km wITh fundS To The Tune of `24,304 crore, and broad GauGInG of 1014 km of TrackS wITh fundS of `5,311 crore have beGun”

oN The rIGhT TrAckl For the current iscal, the Ministry of Railways has made a provision of `6,000 crore for Maharashtra.

l The State has received a record 28 new trains during 2014-17—the irst three years of the Union Government.

l Considering the demands of the passengers, 82 new halts have been provided in Maha-rashtra.

l The Railways have initiated projects worth `51,000 crore for Mumbai Subur-ban stations.

l Electriication is being carried out at nine railway routes in the State at an expenditure of `2149.65 crore.

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New initiatives have been launched for improving the quality of higher education. For excellent educational infrastructure,

the Government has started Higher Education Financing Agency, says Union Minister

for Human Resource Development Prakash JavaDekar

ImpROvEd STAndARdS,

BETTER qUALITY

True power can be acquired through education and, hence, the Union Government has given top priority to improving the standard of education imparted in Government schools. Our

Department of Education has a slogan, Sabko shik-sha, Achhi shiksha (education to all and good edu-cation). Even the poor should receive good educa-tion. A total of 13 crore students receive education through Government schools.

Improving the quality of education in these schools is our biggest challenge. Education is a na-tional agenda for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. he Government will leave no stone unturned to ensure better education to everybody. For this, we began with preparing learning outcomes. With the imple-mentation of the Right to Education Act, the exam-inations from class I to VIII were by far removed. It led to a situation where students never fail and proceed to the next class. In many States, schools became a place where students come, have food and go! With a view to improve this situation, we pre-pared benchmarks for each class on what a student must know in all subjects.

REVOLUTIONARY WORKFrom this year, every parent will know what his ward should know in the standard he studies. Sec-ondly, untrained teachers will have to obtain teach-ers training within two years. Every teacher will have to undergo a two to three weeks’ training ev-ery three years. he basic D.Ed. and B.Ed. course



content will be changed entirely. Every student of D.Ed. and B.Ed. will now go to a Government school for lesson practice. he teachers from Gov-ernment schools will be the observers. We are also going to receive a feedback from the students.

he third major change we have efected is related to a request from many States. he States demanded that if examinations are conducted for classes V and VIII and the failed students are not it to be promoted, they will be stopped. We carried out these reforms in the RTE Act. he 25 States that had made the demand have been allowed to stop a student on the condition that if the student fails in March examination and again in the June examina-tion, one can be held back in the same class.

We have started class X board examination from this year. With this, just like all State Boards, we will have CBSE Board examination. We have started 50 new Kendriya Vidyalayas. Just within three years, the number of these schools have increased by 10 per cent; 62 new Navodaya Vidyalayas were started; 25 lakh students appeared for class V examination and 40,000 out of these got admission further. With the new 62 schools, many more students will get admission. hese are the four reforms in school education.

NEW INSTITUTES AND SUPPORThe irst initiative is expansion of higher education. Seven new Indian Institutes of Management at Sir-mour, Nagpur, Sambalpur, Amritsar, Jammu, Bodh-gaya and Visakhapatnam have been started. Six new Indian Institutes of Technology, one new Indian Insti-tute of Information Technology and two new science research institutes have been started. We have started a Central University at Motihari, where Gandhiji car-ried out the Champaran Satyagraha.

We have provided 3.7 lakh school students with merit scholarship of `500 per month; 3.3 lakh col-lege students are awarded a scholarship of `10,000 per year for three years; 2.1 lakh students receive


NATIoNAl dIGITAl lIBrAryl A project titled, “Development of National Digi-

tal Library of India towards building a National

Asset” has been sanctioned to IIT, Kharagpur.

l Its objective is to provide access to the knowl-

edge repository in terms of books, e-learning

material, encyclopedia, journals, monographs,

reviews, research work, articles, Acts and others.

l Till November 2016, there were 19.75 lakh

e-contents in the library, covering all domains of

education and levels of learners.

l 106 institutions have contributed e-contents

to the library that has registered users from 465

institutions. The alpha version is now available

for registered students, researchers and others.

“we have decIded To Go dIGITal To avoId ScamS In deGree and markSheeTS. we have STarTed a naTIonal dIGITal lIbrary, where 65 lakh bookS are avaIlable dIGITally. we have permITTed more Than 600 STudenTS To InITIaTe STarT-upS from TheIr hoSTelS. Swayam for open educaTIon IS a new eXperImenT. wITh ThIS you can receIve educaTIon anywhere JuST aS we GeT money from an aTm”

the University Grants Commission Fellowship; 41,000 students receive Gates Scholarship. Un-der the National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education, a scholarship of `3,000 is awarded to 9.65 lakh girl students. To motivate the participation of girl students in secondary educa-tion, we award scholarships to around 10 lakh girls.

In order that 5,000 students from Jammu and Kashmir receive good technical education and courses, we have increased the admission capacity.

Our teams are working with industries. he products that industries request are to be given to University for further work. With this, the paradox of highly-trained people without employment and non-availability of needed manpower for the indus-tries will be solved.

PRIORITY TO START-UPSTo encourage students set up industries or im-plement original ideas through start-ups, we conducted a huge competition. About 42,000 engineering students from 2,100 colleges par-ticipated in the competition. he students toiled hard for three months. hey were given 600 issues. he 7,000 teams of seven members each studied their selected topic. he inal teams with 10 students each stayed till April 1 and 2, worked for 36 hours at a stretch, and derived many solutions. n

–As told to Ganesh Ramdasi Deputy Director (Information) and

Special Executive Officer, HRD Ministry, New Delhi

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The Union Government plans to set up a unit in Bhandara for generating solar power. There is another project in Ratnagiri for setting up a paper mill, says Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises anant Geete

mAkE In IndIA, A GAmE-chAnGER FOR IndIA

The heavy industries sector is roaring since the introduction of the famous lion logo of Make in India campaign. With the overwhelming response of investors to “India calling”, we now

have all luxury cars such as Mercedes, Volkswagen and BMW being manufactured in India. hese pol-lution-free additions to the transportation sector have opened a new chapter in addressing the big problem of pollution. For the irst time, a research is taking place in Asia on turbine manufacturing through Ultra Research Turbine. Similarly, yet an-other important step taken has been the National Capital Goods Policy. With all of these, the heavy industries sector has got a new lease of life to ac-complish the objective of Sabka Saath, SabkaVikas

put forth by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

IMPORTANT DECISIONSFor the irst time in Asia, a research on ultra tur-bines with the support of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has been started. With an esti-mated cost of `1,555 crore, these turbines are ex-pected to generate power of about 660 MW. If these machines achieve the target, many small and big turbines can be set up in the future, helping India become self-suicient in power generation.

POLICY DECISIONSFor the irst time, a comprehensive National Capital Goods Policy was formulated—a irst for the sec-tor. Earlier, capital goods, machine tools and textile



industries did not have a dedicated policy. With the policy in place, about `3,000 crore are estimated to be spent on these sectors with the sole aim of boosting growth and creating a favourable business environment. A bhoomipujan was performed in Chakan and Surat for the machine tools industries. A bhoomipujan was also performed for the com-mon facility centre.

he Union Ministry of Heavy Industries also aims to start the work as per policy decisions in im-portant cities like Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru to promote local industries. We are conident that this policy would be particularly good for a city like Bengaluru that is an important and thriving IT hub.

Some revolutionary decisions have been taken for the auto sector. India imports about 70 per cent fuel, incurring our biggest expenditure. To cut it

down and solve the serious problem of pollution, encouragement should be given to hybrid and elec-tric cars. So far, 81,000 cars have been given sub-sidies. he Government is working towards taking this igure to 5 to 7 million. Even though it is a pilot project, going forward the department of heavy in-dustries has a goal of making public sector taxies, buses, auto rickshaws and Government vehicles run on electricity. A fund of `795 crore has been sanctioned via mobility mission and a pilot project is underway.

TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION FUNDhe work in the capital goods sector is in full swing too. Modern technology has been embraced by the world, but since small businesses do not have large capitals, a technology adoption fund has been allotted to these businesses. his is supplementary to the support provided through Make in India programme.

PROJECTS IN MAHARASHTRAhe Union Government is planning to set up a unit in Maharashtra’s Bhandara district for generating solar energy via BHEL. here is another project in Lohate, Ratnagiri for setting up a paper mill.

For past three years, we have been extending various projects and development of heavy indus-tries and public enterprises sector. We are working diligently towards its growth.

Our eforts have got a tremendous boost from Make in India. he sector is sure to witness “acche din” in years to come. n

–As told to Nilesh Kumar Kulkarni


“There are Some ImporTanT maharaTna, mInIraTna and navraTna publIc-SecTor enTerprISeS whoSe conTrIbuTIon To IndIa’S Gdp IS QuITe SIGnIfIcanT.The mInISTry IS workInG on polIcy formulaTIon, reGulaTIon and GuIdance To 282 publIc venTureS”

NATIoNAl cApITAl Goods polIcyl The irst-ever policy for Capital Goods sector, its objective is to increase produc-tion of capital goods from `2,30,000 crore in 2014-15 to `7,50,000 crore in 2025. l It aims to raise direct and indirect employment from the current 8.4 million to 30 million. l The policy envis-ages increasing ex-ports to 40 per cent of production. l It will increase the share of domestic production in India’s demand from 60 per cent to 80 per cent, thus, making India a net exporter of capital goods.

prime minister narendra modi with his cabinet colleagues at the launch of make in india logo in new Delhi in september 2014

YEARS OF

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In the past two years, power generation from coal-based plants has gone up sharply in Maharashtra. The highlight is that power shortage has reduced to zero since the past one year as against 2 per cent and more three years ago,

says Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines Piyush Goyal

Despite being an industrial State, Ma-harashtra was facing severe power shortage, especially during peak hours, before the current Govern-ment took over in the State. he

power shortage led several industrial projects move to the neighbouring States of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. While the power situation in Maharashtra has improved in the past two years, it still has to do a lot when it comes to providing electricity to rural

areas. To meet the inancial requirements of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and other related projects, the State Government decided to join Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY). Currently, 29 per cent of Maharashtra’s rural pockets, about 29 lakh households out of to-tal 142 lakh households, are without electricity. he work of electriication in these areas is being taken up on mission mode. With UDAY, Maharashtra will beneit with approximately `9,700 crore ater

EnERGY EFFIcIEncY FOR mORE pOwER



turnaround and by way of cheaper funds, reduction in AT&C losses, interventions in energy eiciency, coal reforms and others. Overall, the State will save about `16,500 crore every year ater the period of turnaround.

hirty seven projects worth `2,175 crore have been sanctioned under DDUGJY, while projects worth `2,417 crore have been sanctioned under Integrated Power Development Scheme for urban areas. Under erstwhile R-APDRP, projects worth `3,488 crore, covering IT enablement of 128 towns and distribution strengthening work in 123 towns, are under implementation. All 128 towns have been declared “go live”.

In next three years, a lot of new transmis-sion elements are going to be commissioned. hese include about 4,990 ckm of transmission lines and transformation capacity augmenta-tion of 11,130 MVA. To address high-voltage variation in EHV system, a (+/-) 300 MVAR and (+/-) 300 MVAR STATCOM at Aurangabad and Solapur is being installed at a cost of about `800 crore.

he achievements of Ministries of Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy include:g Energy shortage reduced to nil during April-Feb-

ruary 2017 from 2 per cent during April-Febru-ary 2014.

g Peak shortage reduced to 0.4 per cent during April-February 2017 from 8.6 per cent during April-February 2014.

g Power generation from coal-based power plants

grew by over 33 per cent: 96,855 MU produced in 2015-16 against 72,507 MU in 2013-14.

g Removed coal shortage with no power plant hav-ing critical coal stock (less than seven days’ stock) as opposed to 50 per cent capacity facing critical coal stock in May 2014.

g Receipt of coal in power stations grew by over 35 per cent: 62.3 million tonnes coal receipt in 2015-16 against 45.9 million tonnes in 2013-14.

g hree solar parks of 1,500 MW capacity sanc-tioned in Maharashtra; 152 MW solar power capacity installed in last three years; over 80 per cent of the solar pumps were installed in 2016-17.

g 51 MWp Grid interactive solar rootops installed out of sanctioned 100 MWp.

g 973 ckm of green energy corridor worth `361 crore to transmit renewable power underway.

g NTPC has begun 660 MW Solapur super thermal power project.

g LED lighting and water-pumping pilot projects carried out in the State, leading to 660 MWh saved annually. n

–As told to Ameya Sathaye


“beTTer TranSmISSIon InfraSTrucTure haS reduced conGeSTIon In maharaShTra and made cheap ShorT-Term power acceSSIble. In leSS Than Three yearS, 8,000 mva and 3,998 ckm TranSmISSIon lIneS have been compleTed In The STaTe”

INNovATIve scheMesl Energy Eficiency Services Limited (EESL) has developed an innovative scheme UJALA for replace-

ment of ineficient lighting with energy-eficient LED lighting. About 2.1 crore LED bulbs distributed so far, saving `1,093 crore every year in the electricity bills of consumers.l UDAY is a path-breaking reform for realising Prime Minister’s vision of affordable and ac-

cessible 24x7 Power for All. l UDAY provides for the inancial turn-

around and revival of power distribution companies (DIS-

COMs), and ensures a sustainable perma-

nent solution to the problem.

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In defence sector, foreign investment beyond 49 per cent and up to 100 per cent is permitted

through Government approval wherever it is likely to result in access to modern technology,

says Union Minister of State for Defence Dr subhash bhamre

India is known to be the biggest importer of modern ammunition for over six-and-a-half decades. In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his Government’s ambi-tious manufacturing initiative, Make in In-

dia. Under the manufacturing initiative, the Gov-ernment of India pitched the idea of making the country a global maker and exporter of arms and ammunitions. he companies in India and abroad have responded favourably to this proposal, en-couraging the Centre to pursue its mission.

Today, India is the number one buyer of arms in the world that depends on other countries for modern ammunitions and ighter jets. his is main-ly due to the limit on investment the country can make in its defence sector, keeping in mind its vast population and diverse needs.

With indigenous knowhow, the Indian Army can become stronger with home-grown small ight-er jets, helicopters and submarines. With this in mind, the Government of India has taken concrete steps under the ‘Make in India’ programme. he country has already begun its journey of producing ighter jets, helicopters and missiles. he Depart-ment of Defence Production (DDP) is exploring the possibilities of manufacturing ighter jets and sophisticated ammunition. he DDP manufactures a range of arms and ammunition and vehicles.

he keenness, focus and sincerity of the cur-rent Government in making the country indepen-dent in the area of arms production can be esti-

IndIGEnOUS pROdUcTIOn, IndIA’S

SELF-RELIAncE



mated from the fact that between 2001 and March 2014 only 214 industrial licences were given for producing arms. On the other hand, 119 indus-trial licences were issued between April 2014 and March 2016.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENThe Government of India has planned new defence acquisition policies and processes. his new policy procedure is going to turn around the country’s de-fence policy. For this to happen smoothly, it is re-quired that the country has a favourable investment environment.

As part of this, India has made a Rafale deal with France. Half of the investment on the deal will

“armS and fIGhTer planeS ThaT we ImporT are coSTly, So If we manaGe To manufacTure Them locally wITh The help of fdI, IT wIll commercIally benefIT IndIa and creaTe employmenT”

be made in India. he foreign direct investment (FDI) has been hiked to 49 per cent. It has made licensing procedures easier and brought in signii-cant changes. he Centre has even hinted at hiking the FDI to 100 per cent. he Government of India believes that the private sector plays an important role in strengthening national security. he move will also enable private Indian companies connect to their international counterparts.

he Government believes it is important to make radical changes in the sector to make it self-reliant. It believes that it is important to open up the FDI for the exchange of technological expertise. Arms and ighter planes that we presently import are very costly, so if we manage to manufacture them locally with the help of FDI, it will commercially beneit the country and create employment opportunities.

INDIA–FRANCE RAFALE DEALhe much talked-about India–France Rafale deal was inked in 2016. his deal was very important and necessary for the modernisation of Indian Air Force (IAF). India needs to augment the capabili-ties of the force considering the rising threat from China and Pakistan.

IAF’s strength can help in maintaining India’s position and stability in South Asia. Under the Ra-fale deal, India will get 36 Rafale planes that will

grow and bolster India’s capabilities. his is an im-portant step for maintaining India’s domination in the region. A testimony of Prime Minister’s vision, the deal will not only lead to security, but also create job opportunities.

SURGICAL STRIKE, A MORALE BOOSTERhe year 2016 began with a terrorist attack on Pathankot’s army camp. In September, the terror-ists attacked the army base in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri. In retaliation, India carried out surgical attacks on September 29. With the Government’s decision of tit-for-tat approach, the morale of the Indian army has boosted considerably.

ONE RANK–ONE PENSIONAter a long wait of 40 years, the Union Govern-ment announced the long-standing pension scheme, One Rank–One Pension (OROP) in 2015. On February 3, 2016, detailed information on the scheme was released. OROP will be beneicial to re-tired defence personnel and the widows of martyr soldiers. In its irst phase, `4,706.95 crore pending dues were cleared of 19,93,815 ex-servicemen and their families till February 27, 2017. In the second phase, ̀ 2,298 crore will be paid in dues to 15,57,950 ex-servicemen. n

–As told to Ajit Patil


depArTMeNT of defeNce producTIoNl DDP was set up in November

1962 with the objective

of developing a

comprehensive production

infrastructure to produce

the weapons, systems,

platforms, equipment

required for defence.

l Over the years, the department

has established wide-ranging

production facilities for various

defence equipment through

the Ordnance Factories

and Defence Public Sector

Undertakings (DPSUs).

l The products manufactured

include arms and ammunition,

tanks, armoured and heavy

vehicles, ighter aircraft and helicopters, submarines, etc.

The union Govern-ment believes it is important to make radical changes in the defence sector to make it self-reliant. It believes that it is important to open up the fdI for the exchange of technological expertise.”

—Dr subhash bhamre

Union Minister of State for Defence

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has followed Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy in the truest sense. He has successfully implemented Nai Talim principle of Gandhiji, whether it was the Swachhta Abhiyan or Jan Dhan Yojana. With these principles alone, India has earned a name and repute in the world, says Union Minister of State for Home Affairs hansraJ ahir

Ihave been observing Prime Minster Naren-dra Modi from day one very closely. He has never diferentiated between opponents and a party person. he Prime Minister has a deining stamina to work for 18 hours a day

and a skill to encourage his colleagues to work. If this leadership is available to the nation for a long time, the environment will help India become a global super power.

PRIORITY TO SECURITYPrime Minister Narendra Modi gave me the charge of Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers in the be-ginning. Today, I am responsible for the Ministry of Home Afairs as a Minister of State. I consider that the conidence he has bestowed on me is an ac-knowledgement of my work. In addition to internal security, our eforts are focused on improving rela-tions with our neighbouring countries.

I was constantly following up on the implemen-tation of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) for farmers. Ater taking over as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi took note of the status of farmers across India and prioritised the agricultural irrigation scheme. Former Prime Minister Atal Bi-

FARmERS’ wELFARE, nATIOn’S dEvELOpmEnT

ServInG each and everyone

Whether it is a matter of providing gas cylinders and gas stoves

through Centre’s Ujjwala scheme or the initiative to open 24 crore bank accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, it is a fact that people are now confident that the Government of India is dedicated to them. After demonetisation, the Union Government has received complete support from the poor, labour and farmers, giving it more strength. In the times to come, the Government is committed to accelerate the developmental work further.



“former prIme mInISTer aTal bIharI vaJpayee JoIned 7 lakh vIllaGeS of IndIa To ITS cITIeS ThrouGh pradhan manTrI Gram Sadak yoJana. Today, an eQually ImporTanT work IS beInG carrIed ouT ThrouGh pradhan manTrI krIShI SInchayee yoJana. The counTry IS alSo forGInG ahead In GarnerInG foreIGn InveSTmenTS”

hari Vajpayee had joined 7 lakh villages of India to its cities through Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yo-jana (PMGSY). Today, an equally important work is being carried out through PMKSY. India is also forging ahead in garnering foreign investments. here have been attempts to overcome the signii-cant gap between industries and employment op-portunities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has bestowed on me important responsibilities such as Union Territories, Jammu & Kashmir, Centre–State relations, internal security and Naxal afairs. All the neighbouring countries were invited to the oath taking ceremony with the intent of making our mu-tual relationships stronger. Our friendly relations with countries such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Ne-pal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and others have become stronger than ever before.

Given that I belong to a Naxal-afected district, I am fully aware of the adverse efects of Naxalism on a region and its people, and a plan is being drated to curb its ill-efects. Naxalism and terrorism are hur-dles that obstruct development. We have to resolve peoples’ problems going beyond caste and religion. I have worked according to Prime Minister’s vision to see how equality and unity can be maintained.

CHEAP MEDICINESA single look at the Union Government’s policy for generic drugs will make us proud of this Govern-ment and the excellent work done in this area. he


NAxAlIsM vs proGressl Naxalism and terror-

ism are hurdles that obstruct develop-ment of the country. Going beyond caste and religion, the Government has to resolve peoples’ problems like these.

l It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to see how equality and unity can be maintained in the affected areas.

l A plan is being drafted to curb the ill effects of Naxalism.

l While managing the Home Department, the Government is re-solving many issues with coordination between the States and the Centre.

YEARS OF

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I n d I A

questions of afordability of costly medicines have been resolved. In comparison to the medicines sold by companies, generic but branded medicines have now been made available to people at a concession-al rate of 80 to 90 per cent.

Amlodipine strip of 10 tablets costing `20 is now available in generic form at just `2.50. Prices of painkillers have come down from `30 to `5, blood pressure tablets from `94 to `10, medicines for fever from `42 to `3.50, diabetes tablets from `66 to just `3, and antibiotics are now available at `41 from `150. he corruption in urea has stopped thanks to the neem-coated urea. With this, we have saved `5,000 crore payable as subsidy on urea.

OTHER IMPORTANT DECISIONS While managing the Home Department, we are resolving many issues with coordination between the States and the Centre. Internal security is one such important issue. With an eicient Union Gov-ernment, people are conident about their security. Atrocities on women have reduced. Women have started iling complaints at police stations about in-justice against them. Although this has resulted in a larger number of complaints registered, we see it as a result of increasing awareness in women about their rights. hat women today are going out freely at night and are overcoming their fear is a testimony of the present Government’s success. n

–As told to Vikas Zade

The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched innovative initiatives such as Start Up India and Stand Up India to empower the SC, ST, OBC, differently-abled and other weaker sections of society. The Ministry is committed to empower these sections through various schemes, says Union Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment ramDas athawale

The Social Justice Ministry is dedicated to the social and economic empow-erment of the underprivileged. he various schemes run by the Ministry include pre-matric scholarships for

SC children and post-matric scholarships for ninth and tenth grades, post-matric scholarships and spe-cial central aid for OBCs, national fellowship for SC students, National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC), loan facilities for National Safai Karamcharis Finance and De-velopment Corporation, Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana, pre-matric scholarships for OBC stu-dents and fellowships by University Grants Com-mission. here are schemes to help families bear the wedding costs of inter-caste marriages, subsi-dies and aid for senior citizens, diferently-abled and victims of alcoholism. he Ministry has laws for prevention of atrocities on these sections, and works on such sensitive issues.

SUPPORT TO ALLWe are working on raising the scholarship amount for SCs students. Currently, 68 lakh students beneit annually from them. In 2016-2017, over 6 lakh stu-dents of Maharashtra beneitted from these schol-


nEw dImEnSIOnS OF SOcIAL dEvELOpmEnT


arships totalling `8,000 crore. Scholarships are also given to 100 students for higher education abroad. Emphasis is on sending as many students from Ma-harashtra for further studies abroad.

Our country has about 20 crore acre of barren land lying idle. Not all farmers and farm labourers can work outside the farming sector, so if they are given even 2-3 acre land, they can earn their liv-ing with ease. he Ministry is working on giving them loans and soon we will sign MoUs with some banks. his scheme will be run on the lines of Karmaveer Dadasaheb Gaikwad Sabalikaran and Swabhiman Yojana.

IMPORTANT DECISIONSSome of the decisions taken by the Ministry are related to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme for Scheduled Castes. An MoU was signed between the Ministry and NSFDC for the welfare of people living below poverty line. he Ministry also took important decisions to increase the quota of physically-chal-lenged and started training programmes for com-mercial motor driving and self-defence for women.

he reservation quota for physically-disabled has been raised from 3 per cent to 4 per cent. For physically challenged, an independent Secretary-level oicer has been appointed in the department. he Ministry is working on an initiative called Sugamya Bharat for easier access and mobility of persons with disabilities in public places. Another

important decision taken was of the amendment of Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Pre-vention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015. Un-der the new Act, the victims will be given 10 per cent more aid. Depending on the nature of crimes, the amount can be between `85,000 and ̀ 8.25 lakh. It has been made mandatory to release the irst in-stalment of the aid to the victim or victim’s family within a week. Also, ater proper investigation, a case has to be iled in the court within 60 days of the crime. A total of 194 special courts have been set up in 14 States to expedite the legal process so that vic-tims get speedy justice. Maharashtra has three such courts besides special police stations.

Centre’s Start Up India project will help SC entrepreneurs to set up businesses. From the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, pub-lic sector banks have begun allotting loans to female and SC candidate each to start business. his is al-ready helping 1.25 lakh upcoming entrepreneurs.

he Ministry has started Dr Ambedkar Scheme for Social Integration through Inter-Caste Mar-riages, wherein a newly married couple will get the incentive of `2.5 lakh to help them begin their new life. Under Dr Ambedkar Medical Aid Scheme, an aid of up to `3.5 lakh is being given to SC patients sufering from life-threatening diseases.

Committed to development for all, the Ministry will leave no stone unturned to provide justice to every deprived section and ight for greater social integration in the country. n

–As told to Sunil Nimsarkar

“The SocIal JuSTIce mInISTry dISTrIbuTeS aSSISTIve lIvInG devIceS Such aS arTIfIcIal lImbS and hearInG aIdS. on SepTember 17, 2016, IT dISTrIbuTed free hearInG aIdS To 10,330 hearInG ImpaIred people In navSarI, GuJaraT. The larGe-Scale dISTrIbuTIon creaTed a world record!”

(From facing page) prime minister narendra modi, Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and union minister ramdas athawale at Dr B. r. ambedkar memorial in london, and ramdas athawale with specially-abled women at om Creations trust Disabled, a mumbai-based ngo

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked on an ambitious pro-gramme to bridge India’s digital di-vide, connect thousands of villages to the Internet and create millions

of jobs. he programme is a campaign cutting across ministries and realms and in continuum with several other initiatives such as Skill India. “We have to move from e-governance to m-governance. M-governance does not mean Modi governance. It means mobile governance,” the Prime Minister said at the launch of the initiative on July 1, 2015.

With citizens demanding transparency more than ever, it has become inevitable for Govern-ment departments to adopt technology to ofer efective citizen services. With this objective in mind, the departments are coming up with their own mobile apps providing relevant information to citizens. hese apps also make it possible to inancially deal with the Government.

ATAL INNOVATION MISSION Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), including Self-

Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU), is a Government of India endeavour to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. Its objective is to serve as a platform for promotion of world-class innovation hubs, grand challeng-es, start-up businesses and other self-employ-ment opportunities, particularly in technology-driven areas.

NARENDRA MODI APP he oicial app of the Prime Minister of India, it provides a unique opportunity to receive mes-sages and emails directly from Narendra Modi. It has latest news and updates, exclusive oppor-tunity to receive e-mails and messages from the Prime Minister, Mann Ki Baat with the Prime Minister, contribute and earn badges through to-do tasks, a chance to interact with the Prime Min-ister, share ideas and suggestions, his thoughts, blogs, governance initiatives and achievements.

SKILLTRAIN APPhe SkillTrain app connects skill learners with practitioners, certiiers and employers through

The Government aims at making everyday lives of people better with the help of new, smart mobile applications.

Here we list major apps of the Government of India that bring public services closer to people

REAchInG OUT TO ThE pEOpLE


CENTREMobile Apps

an easy-to-use mobile interface. SkillTrain uses a blended model of video content and practical training to enable rural and urban youth to be-come employable or self-employed.

DIGILOCKERDigiLocker is a key initiative under the Digital India programme. Targeted at the idea of paper-less governance, it is a platform for issuance and veriication of documents and certiicates in a digital way, thus eliminating the use of physical documents.

LOST AND FOUND APPLost and Found app makes it possible to report things that were lost, stolen or found, show an exact location of lost and found items on a map, create your own list of reports, share indings with your friends and other app users, use difer-ent pins for reports, preview your reports from multiple devices, edit and remove reports and also take pictures and give directions.

KISAN MITRA APPKisanMitra app is designed and developed by Navsari Agricultural University to fulil the need of people in the areas of agriculture, horticulture and veterinary science.

MEA INDIA APPhe mobile application acts as a single-window source of all information related to Ministry’s cit-izen-centric services and outreach activities. he application is completely user-oriented, intuitive and interactive with smart visuals/graphics.

POST INFO APPhis is India Post’s irst Android app, designed and developed by the Centre for Excellence in Postal Technology. As of now, there exist ive basic functionalities in this application: tracking

The IncredIble IndIa app lISTS all The GovernmenT-affIlIaTed Tour operaTorS, advenTure Tour operaTorS, reGIonal TourIST GuIdeS and recommendS claSSIfIed hoTelS nearby

of goods, post oice search, postage calculator, insurance premium calculator and interest rates.

VOTER INFORMATION SEARCH With this app, a voter can check whether his/her name has been included in the electoral roll of the constituency, and can also ind out the polling station. It uses SMS service for getting information. he app, India Voters list 2017 works like the State-based database for details of Indian voters.

SWACHH BHARAT APPLaunched as part of the Government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, you need to click a picture of the garbage dump or overlowing dustbins and post it on the Swachhata App, a mobile application for addressing complaints related to civic issues. All urban local bodies in the country have been mapped to this app.

IRCTC CONNECTInstall the IRCTC Android app and book a rail-way ticket anywhere in India. he app would have the following features: a one-step login to existing users, options to search and book train tickets and view and cancel tickets, recently add-ed passenger details, registration for new users and upcoming journey alerts.

–Pallavi Singh

MyGov is Government of India’s innovative citizen engagement platform for direct citizen participation in governance by providing an avenue for channelising their ideas, comments and creative suggestions to Union Ministries and associated organisations. Citizens can participate in policy formulation and programme implementation to usher in an era of direct participatory democracy.

myGov app


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The Union Government is completing three years in oice. he time is appro-priate to present the amount of work done by the Government in this peri-od on the basis of execution of various

welfare schemes.

POWERS TO DECIDE ON SCHEMES In the administrative work done by the Modi Government, the beneits of blending various welfare schemes can be seen. he Government has launched several schemes recognising the diverse needs of India’s urban and rural areas, while providing autonomy to States in a federal frame. Focus is on strengthening agricultural ields to face calamities like drought, enhancing the income of farmers, training youth for employment and pro-viding social security to workers, women, senior citizens and deprived constituents of the lowest strata of society.

Besides making the States economically em-powered, there is emphasis on their participation in decision making. he Government of India has

whEn GROwTh

FOR ALL IS ThE mISSIOn

With Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas as its objective, the Union

Government has been devising and implementing welfare

schemes that serve each and every citizen, says aJay buwa

decided to enhance the funds to the States by 10 per cent above the funds being made available, as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Com-mission. Taking cognisance of fast urbanisation, Amrut Yojana has been launched so that small and medium cities can handle the stress of larger crowds and equitable basic facilities can be accord-ed to citizens.

he Smart Cities Mission has been launched to make large cities modern; Udaan scheme is for con-necting small cities by air routes; Shyama Prasad Mukherjee National Urban Mission Scheme is for development of semi-urban localities through cluster development; Make in India programme is to attract industries from all over the globe; and schemes such as Start Up India, Stand Up India and Mudra are to encourage entrepreneurs. he skill development mission, Skill India aims to pro-vide employment opportunities to youth, UDAY to bring out Government electricity companies from losses and to propagate environment-friendly solar energy, Jan Dhan Yojana to help the economically deprived constituents unaware about banking to

CENTREAchievements


The focuS of The

GovernmenT IS on

STrenGThenInG

aGrIculTural fIeldS

To face calamITIeS

lIke drouGhT,

enhancInG The

Income of farmerS,

TraInInG youTh

for employmenT

and provIdInG

SocIal SecurITy

To every member

of SocIeTy. beSIdeS

makInG The STaTeS

economIcally

empowered by

GIvInG more fundS,

There IS STreSS on

TheIr parTIcIpaTIon

In decISIon makInG

join the economy mainstream, Indradhanush for the improvement of economic health of our Gov-ernment banks, Pahal scheme to deposit gas sub-sidy directly to the bank accounts of consumers, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana to provide cooking gas to the people below poverty line, and social se-curity schemes Atal Pension Yojana, Pradhan Man-tri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana are other important schemes launched by the Centre in past three years. he scheme for providing Aadhaar number to citizens so that they can receive beneits of all development schemes is another important initiative.

More noteworthy schemes of the Government of India are Swachh Bharat Yojana and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (a scheme to curb female foeticide)

and Prime Minister Awas Yojana. hen there are schemes meant to double the income of farmers. hese include Pradhan Mantri Gram Sinchayee Yojana (village irrigation scheme), Pradhan Man-tri Fasal Bima Yojana (crop insurance scheme) and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (welfare scheme for poor). Digital India to fully utilise the Internet revolution, Namami Gange Programme to clean holy river Ganga, promotion of inland water-ways through Sagarmala project, development of highways, modernisation of railways, pro-clean-liness scheme such as Clean My Coach, and Setu Bharatam for making National Highways free of railway crossings are other schemes.

DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE Ater the ambitious announcement made by the Prime Minister on doubling farmer’s income, the Government started to take steps in this direction. For improving the quality of soil, a Soil Health Card Scheme was launched. So far, 2.5 crore farmers have been disbursed soil health cards. Distribution of neem-coated urea was also started. To mitigate wa-ter shortage for agriculture, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sinchayee Yojana was launched. he implementa-tion of the scheme is now in mission mode. Under the scheme, 99 important irrigation projects have been identiied. he target for completion of these projects has been set as 2019-2020 at an expendi-ture of `77,595 crore. he scheme includes 26 projects with a cumula-tive irrigation capacity of 10 lakh hectares. Apart


WAys AdopTed To douBle The INcoMe of fArMersl The Union Government has launched the Soil

Health Card for improving the quality of soil.

The cards have been given to 2.5 crore farm-

ers so far.

l Distribution of neem-coated urea has been

started.

l To mitigate water shortage for agriculture,

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana has

been launched.

l Use of bio-fertilisers is being encouraged to

reduce production expenses.

l For crop protection, a comprehensive Pradhan

Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has been launched

to support farmers.

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from this, Maharashtra has demanded `7,000 crore for creation of perennial irrigation in farmer sui-cide afected areas of Vidarbha and Marathwada.

hrough traditional agricultural development scheme, use of bio-fertilisers is being encouraged to reduce production expenses. For crop protec-tion, the comprehensive Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has been launched. With the advan-tages of minimum premium and insurance cover before seeding and ater harvesting, for quick compensation, the scheme proposes mandatory use of remote sensing, smart phones and drones for quick estimation of crop loss. From Maharash-tra, 27 per cent farmers have taken the insurance. he Ministry for Agriculture has sanctioned the implementation of milk development projects in 10 districts of Vidarbha and Marathwada that are drastically afected by drought and farmer suicides.

BOOST TO EMPLOYMENT GENERATIONIn order to make employment opportunities available to In-dia’s youth, the Government of India has set a target of training 15 crore Indians in various skills through Make in India initiative and estab-lishing India as the produc-tion hub of the world.

SWACHH BHARAT AND SWACHH RAILWAYFor active participation in Swa-chh Bharat campaign, Indian Rail-ways has decided to provide bio-toilet service in all railway bogies, and is mak-ing eforts to achieve the target by Septem-ber 2019. In 2016, 40,750 bio-toilets were made available. he railways have also started In-dia’s irst defecation-free corridor on the 114 km Rameswaram–Manamadurai route. All the 10 passenger trains running on this route have bio-toilets.

UDAY FOR ENERGY DEVELOPMENThe Government of India has set a target for electri-ication of the 18,452 villages by 2018. he UDAY (Ujjwal DISCOM Ashwasan Yojana) scheme is being implemented by Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh. As the Govern-

The Centre has laid emphasis on the urban development

of 500 Indian cities under Smart Cities Mission and Amrut. The expenditure on both the schemes is estimated at `48,000 crore and `50,000 crore, respectively. Fourteen countries have shown interest in investing in the Smart Cities Mission through which large-scale employment generation is expected. Ten large cities from Maharashtra have been selected for the mission, besides 37

cities chosen for Amrut. Cities from Andaman Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have also been selected for the projects. As a special case, the cultural and spiritual cities like Varanasi, Bodhgaya, Ajmer and Amritsar would also be transformed through this project.

For the Smart Cities Mission, the Government of India has selected 10 cities from Maharashtra, namely Navi Mumbai, Nashik, Thane, Brihanmumbai, Amravati, Solapur, Nagpur, Kalyan-Dombivali, Aurangabad and

Pune. Immediately after the selection, the Centre

provided funds to the tune of `2 crore to each of the cities for preparing draft plans. The project has also led to the sanction for Pune metro rail project and an MoU between the Government of India and KfW Bank, Germany for financial assistance

of `3,750 crore for Nagpur metro project.

SmarT urbanISaTIon

ment of India has agreed to provide inancial assistance of `305 crore for

the development of energy areas from Maharashtra, more than half a dozen energy

projects will become reality soon.

EFFICACY OF SOLAR ENERGYhe Government has set a target of producing non-conventional energy such as solar power genera-tion to 175 GW. It is expected that the proportion of solar power will go up to 100 GW by 2022. he Government had announced a solar park scheme for the same. he target for solar power generation through roof-top solar panels has been set at 40 GW. Airports, Delhi Metro, Railways and Govern-ment buildings are also actively participating in the scheme. Recently, the Government of Maharashtra approved solar of-grid policy for generation of 500 MW energy in next ive years.

CENTREAchievements


IT IS now poSSIble for The deprIved SecTIonS To benefIT from pradhan manTrI SurakSha bIma yoJana and pradhan manTrI Jeevan JyoTI bIma yoJana ThrouGh TheIr accounTS opened under Jan dhan yoJana

JAN DHAN YOJANAMore than 22 crore bank accounts have been opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, a scheme launched to bring economic inclusiveness in the country. More than 60 per cent of these bank accounts are from rural areas. he programme has also provided employment to about 1.50 lakh Bank Mitra. Jan Dhan accounts for more than 75 per cent of population have been opened in Ma-harashtra. By 2015, the number of Jan Dhan ac-counts had reached 1.25 crore. As most of the Jan Dhan accounts have been linked to the Aadhaar number, it has become easier to take the ben-eits of development schemes directly to eligible beneiciaries.


THE FLIGHT OF UJJWALA YOJANAAter an appeal to people from Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking them to voluntarily give up the subsidy on their cooking gas LPG cylinder, the ‘Give it up’ scheme took of. Many people vol-untarily gave up the subsidy, helping in the launch of Ujjwala scheme to provide cooking gas cylinders to 10 crore below-poverty line (BPL) families in the country.

he Government has set the target for provid-ing gas cylinders to 5 crore BPL families within three years. he scheme has the contribution of Maharashtra through the ‘Give it up’ scheme. For their excellent performance in implementing the ambitious Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme, two districts of Maharashtra, Jalgaon and Osmanabad have been awarded. he State has also excellently performed under Digital India scheme and the tar-get has been set for connecting 28,000 Gram Pan-chayats by ibre optic system by the end of 2018. All services of the State Government are now available online.

DECISIONS FOR MAHARASHTRAhe Ministry of Environment has been supportive for projects considered crucial for Mumbai such as a coastal road and reducing the sensitive area of Sanjay Gandhi National Park at Borivali from the present 10 km to 4 km to facilitate completion of 34 km ocean highway.

he Union Petroleum Ministry has agreed on projects such as a reinery project in Konkan region and a parallel gas pipeline along Mumbai–Nagpur Samriddhi Expressway.

he Union Environment Ministry has entered into an MoU with Japan International Co-opera-tion Agency (JAICA) for puriication of Mula and Mutha rivers. he proposal from Maharashtra Gov-ernment for converting around 3,840 km of State roads into National Highways has been given a nod by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. n

for acTIve parTIcIpaTIon In Swachh bharaT campaIGn, IndIan raIlwayS haS decIded To provIde bIo-ToIleT ServIce In all raIlway boGIeS, and IS makInG efforTS To achIeve The TarGeT by SepTember 2019

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SOARInG TO nEw hEIGhTSWith the competent leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and consistent follow-ups on various Maharashtra-related issues in New Delhi, the State has been able to overcome various challenges in the past three years. From infrastructural facilities like rail and road network for important cities, inclusion of irrigation projects in Centre’s irrigation scheme and assistance for drought-affected areas, Maharashtra is maintaining its pace on the path of progress

In its three years in oice, the Government of India has taken important decisions related to infrastructure development, especially building roads in Maharashtra. Conversion of around 4,000 km of State

Highways to National Highways, construction of bridges on important highways under the ambitious Government of India project Setu Bharatam, approval of four-laning of highways, sanction for State Government’s proposal of `3,954.28 crore for repairs of roads measur-ing 235.394 km and funding of `4,000 crore for road development from the Central Road Fund, inancial provision for Palakhi Marg for Pand-harpur Wari, and other important decisions were taken by the Union Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways.

he Union Ministry of Road Transport has ap-

ADVANTAGEMaharashtra


proved in principle the State Government proposal for conversion of 3,839 km of State Highways to National Highways. he work on the 400 km long expressway between the cities of Mumbai and Va-dodara will start in 2017.

he Union Ministry of Road Transport is also working on spreading awareness among people about road accidents through the medium of FM radio. To boost this initiative, FM radio will be started on Pune-Mumbai and Nagpur-Raipur Highways. A decision has been taken to establish an integrated transport system for Nagpur and cre-ate Goa-Mumbai Ocean Highway.

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENThe Union Ministry of Agriculture approved the implementation of milk development projects in 10 drought and farmer suicide afected districts from Marathwada and Vidarbha regions.he project will be implemented in Nagpur, Wardha, Yavatmal, Am-ravati, Akola and Buldhana districts of Vidarbha and Nanded, Latur, Osmanabad and Jalna districts of Marathwada in cooperation with National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), participating agen-cies and the State Government.

he Government of India took an initiative for the payment of dues of sugarcane-producing farm-ers in Maharashtra. Under Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, an MoU was signed with NABARD for completion of 26 irrigation projects in Maharashtra. he Centre approved soybean pur-chased by the State Government for kharif harvest 2016-17. he Government of India issued instruc-tions to agencies NAFED and SFAC to purchase soybean in Maharashtra.

DEVELOPMENT OF MUMBAI CITYhe Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has accorded approval for the Mumbai Coastal Highway project.

A notiication to reduce the sensitive area of Sanjay Gandhi National Park from 10 km to 4 km has been issued clearing the way for setting up a Mumbai Metro Railway shed at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and works under other projects.

A programme has been planned to implement a special cleanliness drive at selected 100 locations

SmarT pune

Various decisions have been taken for the development

of Pune city. These include Pune Metro, Lohegaon Airport, purification of Mula-Mutha rivers and others. Decisions have also been taken to start the work on both stages of Pune Metro, extension of Pune airport and ring road as early as possible.

For purification of Mula and Mutha rivers, the Government of India has entered into an MoU of `1,000 crore with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JAICA). The repayment of the loan is to be made in 40 years. Under this MoU, 11 new machines for segregating waste

from water will be created. This will help in reducing pollution of the rivers; `990.26 crore will be spent on purification of the rivers. Out of this, the Centre will contribute `841.72 crore and Pune Municipal Corporation will contribute `148.54 crore. The purification project will be completed by January 2022.

The Ministry of Defence has agreed in principle to the extension of Lohegaon airport at Pune by 18 acres. This has paved the way for extension of the airport. This apart, Pune metro railway project has been submitted to the Union Cabinet for approval.

The unIon GovernmenT would provIde fundS for apprenTIceShIp TraInInG In maharaShTra. an mou haS been SIGned beTween The cenTre and The STaTe GovernmenT on SeTTInG up of an oIl refInery In konkan


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hane, Brihanmumbai, Amravati, Solapur, Nagpur, Kalyan-Dombivali, Aurangabad and Pune.

he Union Ministry of Environment and For-ests has approved reduction of the area of Mal-dhok sanctuary from 1,229 sq. km to 400 sq. km. he decision will beneit farmers from Solapur and Ahmednagar. Under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Maharash-tra has been granted an encouragement amount of `45.57 crore.

BOOST TO CHANDRAPURhe Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has removed the restrictions placed on Chandrapur MIDC, Ghuggus, Ballarpur and Tadali under Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index. With this, the way has been cleared for fresh investments in this area.

In principle approval has been granted for `305 crore from energy process development funds for energy development in Maharashtra.

TOURISM DEVELOPMENThe Indu Mill land in Mumbai has been transferred to the State Government to build a monument of Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.

he detailed project report on the conserva-tion and beautiication of Raigad Fort, the capital of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, has been agreed in principle. he work on conservation and restora-tion of 18 forts out of the 40 forts present has been undertaken by the State Government. he Govern-ment of India is going to help in providing essential facilities at Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta caves. n

– Dayanand KambleDeputy Director, MIC, New Delhi

SmarT naGpur

The Government of India has taken an initiative to make

available facilities for excellent health to the population of Nagpur and around. Accordingly, the Union Cabinet has approved establishment of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Nagpur. A provision of `1,577 crore has also been made for the project.

The city of Nagpur is included in the list of 10 Smart Cities from Maharashtra. The Government of India took important steps for the development of the city. An memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between French Development Agency (AFD) and the Government of Maharashtra. An MoU for `3,750 crore has been signed between the German KfW Bank and Government of India. According to this MoU, the KfW Bank has advanced a loan

of `3,750 crore (500 million euro) for 20 years. Through this loan, works of Nagpur metro coaches, metro tracks, electricity supply, traction, construction and others will be undertaken. The Nagpur Metro project will get a loan of `975 crore from the AFD.

Maharashtra has sent a proposal to the Centre for conversion of Gorewada Zoo Forest land as non-forest land. The State Government is planning to establish a zoo and an open safari at this place.

To mitigate the inconvenience of State youth for induction in Delhi Police, approval has been granted for a selection process centre in Nagpur. The Delhi Police will be recruiting 6,658 personnel, and with the upcoming centre, the youth from Nagpur will not have to go to Delhi for the selection process.

in the country including important heritage areas and spiritual/cultural places. Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus has been included in the irst 10 places to be taken up.

SMART CITIES MISSIONTen cities from Maharashtra are part of the Smart Cities Mission of the Union Urban Development Ministry. he cities are Navi Mumbai, Nashik,


ADVANTAGEMaharashtra

CENTRE’SWelfare Schemes

THE START UP INDIAn Launch date: January 16, 2016he scheme promotes entrepreneurship among people. It

provides loan to entrepreneurs for setting up new enterprise. http://inmin.nic.in

DEENDAYAL UPADHYAYA GRAMEEN KAUSHALYA YOJANA (ddUGKy)n Launch date: September 25, 2014a Government of India youth employment scheme, the scheme targets rural youth in the age group of 15–35 years.http://ddugky.gov.in

pIlGrImaGe rejUvenaTIon and SpIrITUal aUGmenTaTIon drIve (praSad)n Launch date: March 9, 2015he scheme aims to improve the infrastructure at pilgrimage places. Under praSad, initially 12 cities were identiied, namely ajmer, amritsar, amravati, dwarka, Gaya, Kedarnath, Kamakhaya, Kanchipuram, mathura, puri, varanasi and velankanni. Both praSad and Swadesh darshan schemes were launched together to promote tourism and develop cultural places. http://tourism.gov.in

Ude deSh Ka aam naGrIK (Udan) n Launch date: April 27, 2017he recently launched cheap airfare scheme of the Union Government makes air travel

afordable to all Indians. he maximum price of a light of one hour has been ixed at `2,500, including taxes. he scheme will feature lights to under-served smaller towns.

naI Udaann Launch date: November 14, 2014It is a scheme to support minority students prepare for the main examination ater they have cleared the prelims conducted by Union public Service Commission, Staf Selection Commission and State public Service Commissions. http://naiudaan-moma.gov.in/

namamI GanGe yojanan Launch date: July 10, 2014an ambitious Union Government project, this integrates the

eforts to clean and protect river Ganga in a comprehensive manner. https://nmcg.nic.in

pradhan manTrI Ujjwala yojanan Launch date: May 1, 2016he scheme was launched with a target of providing lpG connections to 50 million below poverty line families in three years. http://www.pmujjwalayojana.com

SeTU BharaTamn Launch date: March 4, 2016 Setu Bharatam was launched by prime minister narendra modi at a budget of `102 billion with an aim to make all national highways free of railway crossings by 2019. http://morth.nic.in

mISSIon IndradhanUShn Launch date: December 25, 2014he aim of mission Indradhanush is to immunise children and pregnant women against seven vaccine preventable diseases, namely diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B by 2020. he objective is to achieve full immunisation in 352 districts, which includes 279 mid-priority districts, 33 districts from the north east and 40 districts from phase one where huge number of missed out children were detected. http://www.missionindradhanush.in

BeTI BaChao, BeTI padhao yojanan Launch date: January 22, 2015To generate awareness and improve the eiciency of welfare services meant for women, this scheme was launched. Its aim is to have

focussed intervention and multi-section action in almost 100 districts with low child sex ratio. http://wcd.nic.in

SanSad adarSh Gram yojana (SaGy)n Launch date: October 11, 2014Under this scheme, members of parliament have been made responsible for developing the socio-economic and physical infrastructure of three villages each by 2019, and a total of eight villages each by 2024, ushering in social, cultural, economic and infrastructure development to create model villages or adarsh Gram. http://rural.nic.in n

Here is a list of some programmes launched by the Government of India to achieve inclusive development

GIvInG wInGS TO dREAmS


Maharashtra has an inheritance of opulence and aspiration for progress. here are many chal-lenges that confront us during the course of time. many platforms

are available in our democratic system to ask the questions we have for the Government. however, this is the irst time in maharashtra when the com-mon man has an opportunity to directly question the Chief of the State. Come, let us ask questions, get our doubts cleared and open up our minds, says maharashtra Chief minister devendra Fadnavis.

n Chief Minister: Until we view the issues faced by agriculture in maharashtra in the long term and with the perspective of welfare schemes, we will limit the sector to aid, assistance and rehabilitation; the real issues before the farmers will never end. what is the problem when we look at perennial ag-

“Chief Minister

The DGIPR has started an innovative programme, mi mukhyamantri boltoye

(ChieF minister sPeakinG). In its debut show under the theme ‘Resolve for perennial agriculture’, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis established a direct dialogue with the farmers of the State. The programme was telecast on Sahyadri Channel with a broadcast on Akashwani

riculture in maharashtra? he true inhibition is that of the lack of productivity. In terms of productivity, maharashtra is among the lowest ive States in ma-jority of crops.

now, what is the meaning of lack of productiv-ity? It means that the production costs are higher and the yield is less. when the production costs are higher and the production is less, the farmer is in a condition where he cannot balance what he has sown and the eforts he has taken. Our entire capital investment is to the extent of `31,000 crore. Out of this `31,000 crore, `19,000 crore is the capi-tal investment in agriculture sector. herefore, we are making eforts to enhance this investment and make agriculture sustainable.

Maharashtra has taken up climate-resilient ag-riculture in alliance with the World Bank. Are you aware that the World Bank was earlier only assist-ing us for huge works such as roads and buildings?

speaking…”

DIALOGUEChief Minister


sAlIeNT poINTsl The Government aims to increase the capital investment in agriculture sector to make it sustainable.

l Maharashtra has taken up climate-resilient agriculture in alliance with the World Bank.

l A loan waiver is neither the ultimate nor the sure remedy.

l Jalyukta Shivar brings water security to farmers and curbs climate change.

his is the irst time we have gone to the world Bank with an innovative project to enhance invest-ment in the agriculture sector.

we began right from soil improvement and went on to create an end-to-end programme ad-dressing factors such as better water use eiciency, micro irrigation system, cropping pattern and post-harvest technology further up to market linkage. In the irst stage, we decided to bring this transforma-tion to 5,000 villages for which a project of `7,000 crore has been prepared. he world Bank is helping us on this and we have already started the project. within the ensuing period, we are going to trans-form these 5,000 villages completely.

we have suggested a vital project through the budget, where the Government will provide all its schemes if 20 farmers get together with a total land of 100 acres. a marginal farmer does not have the resources to go for mechanisation. a single farmer cannot go for all these. however, if all the money is provided to community agriculture along with Government schemes to enhance productivity, the farmers will be able to reap the beneits.

GREAT LONGING FOR TRANSFORMATIONChief minister devendra Fadnavis has a strong de-sire to transform the farmers. however, one cannot achieve this without appreciation and study. Till now, only a irst aid for agriculture was being car-ried out. a large quantum of investment in the sec-tor is the only way forward.

Q: Whatever is cultivated in the farm comes to the village and then moves onto the customer. Why then is the huge diference in the rates for agricultural produce and the price paid by the customer? How will you bridge this gap? (Purushottam athalekar, Dombivali)n Chief Minister: what we have done for vegetables and fruits is to make available an open market for the produce. Till now, this market was run through agricultural produce marketing committees. Since we have opened up the market, we instructed all the municipal Corporations to allot space for these markets. nearly 15 markets have been com-missioned in mumbai. mostly women visit these places, as they get best-quality produce at aford-able rates. he middlemen have also vanished. he markets can be accessed by paying a small user fee.

We have instructed the Urban Development Department to make available Government spaces for these markets. he farmers can directly reach the place to sell their fruits. We are creating a model to maintain cleanliness at these places. We

know that a single pomegranate would not fetch a good price, but the same fruit packaged will fetch double the price. We are starting these markets for such beneits.

suPPort PriCehough the Government has started weekly mar-kets, the question of support price remains.

Q: What is the Government’s stand on providing support prices for vegetables and fruits? (Devidas More, solapur)n Chief Minister: It is diicult to provide support prices for perishable crops. Support price is gen-erally provided to long-term crops. here are two aspects of this. If the fruits are processed, they can


“afTer we provIded an open markeT place, we InSTrucTed all munIcIpal corporaTIonS To alloT Space for markeTS and farmer produce commITTeeS. mumbaI haS 15 Such markeTS”

receive support price or good price. Like, we just took the example of pomegranate. he other exam-ple could be orange. Chennai and Bangladesh are good markets for oranges. If heavy rains lash Chen-nai, the market here crashes and oranges need to be thrown. If there are riots in Bangladesh, the busi-nessmen refrain from transporting the goods, but if the goods are available at half the price or three-fourth of the price, the businessmen lit the goods.

We have observed that in the Coca Cola plant 80 per cent orange pulp used to come from Amer-ica, and mixing of the pulp and illing up of bottles were done here. But since 80 per cent of the pulp would be imported from america, how would local oranges get good price? we have started a project with Coca Cola and jain Irrigation, which will be using pulp from local markets only.

our prime minister has told the aerated drinks manufacturers to increase the proportion of fruit pulp in all their aerated drinks. earlier, it was around 1 to 2 per cent. he same has been taken to

10 per cent. his will increase the sale of our fruits, and we shall not be dependent on any other coun-try or market. Suppose there is a factory that re-quires a certain quantity of raw material and if the said material is supplied by the farmer, he stands to become king.

LOAN WAIVERQ: Can a help of `1 lakh to the farmer hav-ing marginal land and `1.50 lakh to the one having more than 5 acre land can resolve the problem?(Kanhaiya Pagare)Q: What steps will the Government take so that farmers don’t have to go for loans?(Ganesh Ggavasne, Ahmednagar)n Chief Minister: Basically, loan waiver is one of the many remedial measures for agriculture. many people believe that this is the ultimate or a sure remedy. his is neither the ultimate nor the sure remedy. we considered the loan waiver of 2008 along with the CaG report on the matter and found that the remedy may have beneitted 30-40 per cent of farmers. In fact, the farmer who was actually ridden by obstacles was not beneitted by the loan waiver given.

By providing a loan waiver, what we do is to make the farmer eligible for seeking a loan once again. nothing more and nothing less… ater the loan waiver in 2009, the eligible farmers went in for a loan again and became indebted in 2010. We pro-vided them a temporary satisfaction that their loan was waived and there was no burden on them. Next year, they once again became indebted. What is the moot question here?

First, we need to take up capacity building. One should be able to repay the loan. he loan we pro-vide is a crop loan, not an industrial loan. Crop loan is a short-term loan. It is like borrowing. We used to take it from a moneylender or a prestigious per-son. his used to lead to atrocities. In order to stop these atrocities and ensure loans to farmers from an institution, arrangement of banks was made. Today in India, we provide crop loans to the tune of `10 lakh crore and receive a repayment. his is like bor-rowing. We also apply small interest on the loan. At certain places, the interest rate is as low as zero per cent.

Now, if we need to invest in agriculture, where will the money come from? For a loan waiver, the money will come from the budget, and so in case of investment; the money will come from the budget. I am not of the opinion to never allow a loan waiver. However, it must be at an opportune time.



Investors are ready to take up fallow lands on rental basis. There is only one obstacle, requirement of space to place so-lar panels. hence, the state Govern-ment is taking an initiative. At some places where farm-ers are keen, we are providing the beneits.” —DevenDra FaDnavis

Chief Minister

BOOST TO AGRICULTUREQ: he farmer has an issue with water. Our schemes for water storage for sustainable agriculture need to be worked on. You should personally look into the plastic cover issue.n Chief Minister: You will be pleased to know that the tax on these covers has been brought down to zero. he prices will, thus, drop down. a farm pond must be created with every covering. you are cor-rect in saying that the farm pond is an excellent remedy that will transform agricultural ields.

Q: What is your opinion on setting up solar plants on barren lands and using that electricity

for farming?(Umakant Joshi, Nanded) Q: here is no electricity in many agricultural ields in the Konkan. Farmers can be beneitted if solar power is made available to them through Panchayat Samiti at subsidised rates. (Swami Bhise, hane)n Chief Minister: Investors are ready for generat-ing solar power on fallow lands. hey are ready to take up fallow lands on rental basis. here is only one obstacle, the solar power unit requires a huge space as solar panels have to be placed. hence, the State Government is taking an initiative. at some places where farmers are keen, we are providing the beneits.

chIef mInISTer on JalyukTa ShIvar


“aT many placeS,

we are makInG

an efforT To

creaTe InleT-

ouTleT, waTer

conServaTIon

farm pond aS

well. ThIS

enhanceS The

GroundwaTer

level, and we alSo

help The Same

SumpTuouSly”

Q:The Jalyukta Shivar yojana from

chief minister devendra fadnavis

has been successful. how different

is the scheme from the earlier ones?

(ramchandra Gharat, hingoli)

chief minister: Let me tell you at the

outset that Jalyukta Shivar Yojana was

successful because it was a scheme

by the people. The scheme would not

have been successful if it had been

implemented by the Government alone.

The basic difference between the

earlier scheme and Jalyukta Shivar is that

we were running 14 schemes with five

to seven departments implementing it.

Earlier, there was no coordination. It was

like giving a cap to one and a shirt to

another and a pant to the third one and

a wrist watch to the fourth one. By the

end of it, no one was getting dressed

completely. We clubbed all these 14

schemes. Convergence of resources and

then convergence of command was done.

All departments were brought under the

Collector. It was planned that everyone

and every department should report to

the Collector for the scheme.

The biggest success of the scheme

was people’s participation and the

scientific approach taken by us. At the

core, we placed the development of water

shed. Normally, cement dams are easy

to construct. Drainage statement is also

easy. This work was being done on a

large scale. However, till we do not go for

preparation of CCT and Deep CCT, we do

not have the issue of holding the water.

Holding the soil is our most important

work. Today, water alone is not carried

away during rains; the soil also is eroded.

To hold the soil, we went in for Deep

CCT and CCT along with area treatment.

Compartment bunding was undertaken.

We went on conserving water from every

medium that was available and in turn

held the soil that would have eroded.

The Government of Maharashtra

worked from top to bottom and was

able to enhance the water level. Now,

many districts of Maharashtra that once

required 200-300 tankers during the

month of March have not used more than

five tankers even after March. This has

been a huge change.

I believe, the second question is more basic. We should make solar pumps available. Last year, we undertook a programme to provide 10,000 solar pumps. In another three to four years, we will have to make eforts to take electricity-based pumps to solar power. When we provided 10,000 pumps, we found that with the speed with which we were working it would not be possible to supply solar energy to the farmers. With the infrastructure that we have developed, we will not be able to provide electricity for seven days a week. We can go for maximum three or four days. We have to provide electricity at night and the huge infrastructure cre-ated by us cannot be changed in one, two or even ive years. We had a challenge before us to provide electricity to the farmers. hen, Maharashtra came up with an innovative solution.

We carried out feeder separation for providing solar pumps. As you must be aware, the feeder for the village is separate and that for agriculture is sep-arate. If the entire feeder for agriculture is placed on solar power, the individual farmer will not have to purchase a solar system. Solar electricity generated will be supplied to his pump through that feeder. And, the solar power will replace the coal-based power used earlier. With the model created, we started four to ive pilot projects based on this.

he response on the model has been very good. his was even brought to the notice of NITI Aayog, which too is keen to help. he Government of India



solAr poWerl The Government of Maharashtra undertook a programme to provide 10,000

solar pumps last year.

l For consistent solar energy supply to farmers, the State carried out feeder separation for providing solar pumps.

l Four to ive pilot projects based on the new model were started. The re-sponse on the model has been good.

l This was brought to the notice of NITI Aayog, which was keen to help. The Government of India is giving `3 crore for each project.

l With the model, Maharashtra is able to provide electricity and solar energy 12 hours a day.


in for heavy losses. Now, the covering is also not easy. It is costly and the farmer does not have the capacity to invest in it. For more than a year, we have been making eforts to address this. If this im-ported cover can be manufactured in India, we can save almost 30-40 per cent on costs.

You have a question regarding climate change. he positive outcome of Jalyukta Shivar is there to see. When the rains are ine for three days and then for next 26 days there is not even a drop, we need protected irrigation. Last year, during kharif har-vest when such gap was observed, we could provide protected irrigation to 25,000 acres through Jalyuk-ta Shivar. he rains were not lacking. Precipitation was 95 to 98 per cent. However, the same arrives in four days instead of 10 and then there is a gap of 25 to 30 days. hen, we receive the precipitation of 10 days in three days! If we do not have the capacity to store this water, crops incur losses. Hence, the ma-jor investment that we are doing now is in climate-resilient agriculture.

Q: here are illegal transactions in the purchase of implements. If direct grant is provided to the farmer, he could purchase the implement and send the bill as well as a picture of the imple-ment to the Agriculture Department by e-mail. he Department of Agriculture should recognise this system. (Adinath Chavan, Editor, Agrowan)n Chief Minister: Complaints were being made on this for some time. In January 2017, a decision was taken in connection with direct transfer of beneit and a GR was also issued. From now on, the farm-ers can purchase the implements and send the bill and photograph even by WhatsApp.

I deinitely know that unless we work in the ar-eas of agriculture and rural development, we will not be able to remove the disparity in Maharashtra. Even when its cities shine bright, Maharashtra will not be able to change unless 50 per cent of its people living in villages and dependent on agriculture do not see development.

As Chief Minister, let me assure and promise you that our entire focus is concentrated on agri-culture and rural development. We will be in con-stant dialogue with you. Action will be taken on the suggestions received through this program, and the same will deinitely be applied to bring in perennial agriculture in the State. I express this conidence and look forward to your company. You should point out our mistakes. I assure you that we shall improve and strive to carry out the work in the best possible way. n

–Mangesh Koli

is giving us `3 crore for each project. NITI Aayog has said that other States must also consider the model. hrough this model, we shall be able to pro-vide perennial electricity and solar energy to farm-ers 12 hours a day. While India will accept the mod-el later, I am happy to say that it was launched in Maharashtra. Instead of making individual pump solar operated, we decided to make the feeder itself solar-based. One of the advantages of solar energy is that once the experiment is successful, we will be able to bring it to life within six months instead of three years for other electricity-generation projects.

Q: We have noticed that weather changes afect the agricultural sector. How will the Govern-ment handle these changes? (sadashiv Pangare, nashik)n Chief Minister: We have prepared Nanaji Deshmukh Krishi Samruddhi Yojana with the World Bank. he root of this project is in climate-resilient agriculture, meaning agriculture that can ight the changes in climate. he question is abso-lutely appropriate. You are from Nashik. So let us take an example of grapes from Nashik. While the production of grapes is wonderful, suddenly a hail-storm hits, leaving the farmer devastated. Now, the farmers who place a cover on the crop do not ac-crue losses. hose who do not use the covers are

“our enTIre focuS IS concenTraTed on aGrIculTure and rural developmenT. acTIon wIll be Taken on The SuGGeSTIonS receIved ThrouGh ThIS proGram, and The Same wIll defInITely be applIed To brInG In perennIal aGrIculTure In The STaTe. I look forward To your company and feedback.”

The responsibility of the Labour Department is effective implementation of labour welfare acts. Solving industrial disputes, ensuring industrial safety and health, and other necessary actions required for labour welfare are being addressed by the department. There is an attempt to provide services online. Minister for Labour sambhaJi Patil–nilanGekar explains schemes and decisions taken for labour welfare by Maharashtra

The Labour Department of Government of Maharashtra is active in the efec-tive implementation of labour acts in industrial sector. he oices of Labour Commissioner, Development Com-

missioner for the Unorganised Labour, Director-ate of Industrial Safety and Health, Directorate of Steam Boilers and Maharashtra Institute of Labour Studies come under the Department.

Activation of processes such as reforms in la-bour acts for ease of doing business, self-attestation for boiler certiicates and integrated annual report scheme is helping the industries become self-disci-plined and self-reliant.

PROMPTNESS FOR LABOUR RIGHTShe Labour Department is saddled with the imple-mentation of 19 Central Labour Acts, State Labour Acts, Factories Act, 1948 and Boiler Regulations. he main objectives of the Labour Department are to bring improvement in the working condi-tions and lifestyle of workers, total eradication of child labour and forced labour practice, following various security and health measures in hazardous industries, implementation of remedial measures to improve labour skills and increase employment. Various schemes are being implemented for wel-fare of staf from the unorganised sector. Apart from this, Labour Welfare Boards, Security Guards

Boards and Mathadi Boards are also working under the Labour Department.

ONLINE FACILITIESAn online system has been developed to provide the services of the Labour Department. For ease of doing business and encouraging business, labour laws are being reformed. One can receive online certiication, third-party veriication and verify the validity of a certiicate. Along with shop and estab-lishments’ registration, shop and establishments’ renewal, registration of main employer for contract labour, contract labour permission registration and

RIGhTS, EqUALITY And GUIdAncE

COLUMNState Cabinet Minister


a single integrated annual report under all labour acts for establishments participating in the scheme.

REFORMS IN LABOUR ACTShe department has brought reforms to the Facto-ries Act, 1948. he limit for necessary number of workers for registration has been increased to 20 where electricity is used for production and to 40 where electricity is not used for production. Ad-vance permission for overtime has been cancelled. he limit for overtime has been increased from 75 hours to 115 hours. he limit for working days has been reduced for earning paid leave. he limit has been brought to 90 days from 240 days earlier. Ac-tion is being taken for ixation of wages for workers from various notiied industries under the Mini-mum Wages Act. Reforms have been brought in various labour acts from time to time. An action plan has been prepared for efective implementa-tion of Mathadi Act and to stop the misuse of the provisions of this Act. n

–Varsha PhadkeDepartmental Liasioning Oicer


sTATe lABour depArTMeNT, AT A GlANce:l WeBSITe:

www.mahakamgar.

gov.in and www.lms.

mahaonline.gov.in

l AWARDS:

excellent Labour

Welfare Award, Ka-

mgar Mitra Award (for

Institutions), Kamgar

Bhushan Award.

l SPeCIAL DAYS:

4 March:

National Safety Day;

1 May Labour Day;

1 July: Labour

Welfare Board

Anniversary

Under the Make in Maharashtra programme,

reforms are being brought to various labour acts so as to attract maximum investment to the State, and for ease of doing business and encouragement of industry. In case the action is not taken in the stipulated time, provision has been made to consider the challan that has been filled to be held as

the Registration Certificate. All the businessmen have been permitted to compile and preserve the registers and documents in prescribed format and in a computerised manner. It has been made compulsory to keep business establishments open on all seven days of the week and to provide a duty off for one day in a week.

eaSe of doInG buSIneSS

contract labour permission renewal, there are many services available to citizens on portals, www.ma-hakamgar.gov.in and www.lms.mahaonline.gov.in.

Under Maharashtra Right to Public Services Ordinance, 2015, 20 services have been made on-line through Aaple Sarkar. Of the 5,69,135 online applications received by the Labour Department till September 25, 2016, action has been taken on 5,53,158, i.e. 97 per cent applications.

LICENCE WITHIN SEVEN DAYSAn important decision has been taken to issue licenses to non-hazardous factories, shops and establishments within seven days of their applica-tion. Action is also being taken to issue registration license and renewal of licences within seven days from the date of such application. We have taken an important decision to keep shops open for business all 365 days of the year.

SELF-CERTIFICATION SCHEMESelf-certiication is being implemented for busi-nessmen. Permission has been granted to submit

In order to prepare India for changing global trends, the third meeting of NITI Aayog was organised to take collective steps towards setting a

New India, where States contribute to policy formulation with an emphasis on cooperative federalism, says Pallavi sinGh

With an aim of transforming In-dia in 15 years, Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi led NITI Aayog has envisioned an ambi-tious agenda to be achieved by

2032. It aims to transform India into a “prosperous, highly educated, healthy, secure, corruption-free, energy abundant, environmentally clean and glob-ally inluential nation.”

Delivering the opening remarks at the third meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it is the collective responsibility of the gathering to envision the India of 2022—the 75th anniversary of independence—and see how we can switly move forward to achieve these goals. Recalling the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of the centenary of Champaran Satyagraha, the Prime Minister said

the NITI Aayog has been taking steps to transform India with fresh vigour. He said the Government, private sector and civil society, all need to work in sync. Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged States to speed up capital expenditure and infrastructure creation. Speaking of the historic change in budget presentation date, he said this would enable timely availability of funds at the beginning of the inancial year. He also mentioned the ending of the distinc-tion between plan and non-plan expenditure, based on the recommendation of the Rangarajan Com-mittee in 2011 that had found the distinction to be counter-productive.

he Prime Minister said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) shows the strength and resolve of the federal structure. He gave credit to all Chief Ministers for coming on one platform for this cause, keeping aside ideological and political diferences. he Prime Minister said, consensus on GST will go

BUILdInG A nEw IndIA

MEETINGNITI Aayog


prime minister narendra modi addressing the third meeting of the governing Council of niti aayog at rashtrapati Bhavan, new Delhi

the GeM platform, i.e. Government e-Marketplace to reduce corruption and increase transparency in Government procurement. He said that the use of technologies such as BHIM and Aadhaar would re-sult in signiicant savings for the States. Narendra Modi said that the District Mineral Fund, CAMPA Fund and construction workers welfare fund would provide signiicant boost to State’s resources. He asked NITI Aayog to come up with a roadmap for better utilisation of such funds by the States.

he Prime Minister urged States to join the Ek Bharat, Shresth Bharat, an initiative launched on Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary last year.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who attend-ed the NITI Aayog meeting shared information on the State’s digital initiatives such as Right to Servic-es through Aaple Sarkar, public Wi-Fi, digital vil-lages and others. he Chief Minister also sought as-sistance from the Union Government for Maha Net through which it is working to make each Gram Panchayat digitally connected. He sought inancial help for the 14 districts afected by farmer suicides and to complete pending irrigation projects in the drought-hit districts of the State.

he Government of Maharashtra has prepared a comprehensive plan to curb the rising number of farmer suicides in these 14 districts. In addition, the Chief Minister requested the Prime Minister to compensate the State against the abolition of local bodies tax (LBT) of the urban local bodies. he State Government had abolished LBT on August 1, 2015. n

TarGeTS nITI aayoG haS SeT for 2032

g hree-fold rise in GDP: At present, India’s GDP is around `137 lakh crore (at

2015-16 prices). he think tank has predicted that GDP would witness an aver-

age growth of 8 per cent per annum and rise up to `468 crore by 2031-32.

g `2 lakh increase in per capita GDP: India’s present per capita GDP at 2015-16

prices is `1,06,589. he NITI Aayog has predicted it to rise up to `3,13,66 by

2031-32.

g Urban population to rise by 22 crore: According to 2011 Census, the urban

population of India was 37.7 crore. It is expected to reach 60 crore by 2031-32.

g hree-fold increase in Central and State expenditure: At present, the Central

and State expenditure in India is ̀ 38 lakh crore. With NITI Aayog, it is expected

to reach `130 lakh crore by 2031-32.

g Facilities for people: Housing with toilets, electricity and digital connectivity

for all, access to two wheelers or cars, air conditioning and other white goods

for nearly all, a fully literate population with universal access to healthcare, a

much larger and modern network of roads, railways, waterways and air con-

nectivity and a clean India with clear air and water, clean cities and villages.


down in history as a great illustration of cooperative federalism. He said, the GST relects the spirit of “One nation, One aspiration, One determination.” he Prime Minister reiterated that the legislative ar-rangements at the State-level for GST should be put in place without delay. he Prime Minister called for carrying forward the debate and discussion on simultaneous elections. He said the NITI Aayog is working on a 15-year long-term vision, seven-year medium-term strategy and three-year action agen-da. He said this efort needs support of States, and will eventually relect in beneits to the States.

he Prime Minister called upon States to use

(From left) himachal pradesh Chief minister Virbhadra singh, Jharkhand Chief minister raghubar Das, kerala Chief minister p. Vijayan, maharashtra Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and meghalaya Chief minister lal thanhawla at the niti aayog meeting in new Delhi

LANDMARKTown Hall

A TREASURY OF InFORmATIOnThe city of Mumbai is home to India’s most famous library, the Asiatic Society of Mumbai. Also a site for the shooting of many films, TV and print commercials, the heritage building built in the 1800s boasts a colonial architecture, says Prakash bal Joshi

The commercial capital of India, Mum-bai has one of India’s irst libraries with the status of being a repository of cul-ture and knowledge for centuries. Set up in the early 1800s in the heritage

building of the majestic Town Hall—an imposing structure part of Victorian Mumbai—the Asiatic Society of Mumbai also has a museum. he beauti-ful blend of books, artefacts and architecture makes the building a hotspot for readers, history bufs and tourists.

Designed by Colonel homas Cowper, the Asiatic Society was inspired by Greek and Roman architectural styles. Its entrance is adorned with a Grecian portico and impressive Doric-styled pil-lars. here is a light of 30 steps leading to the en-trance of the Town Hall. he entire construction was made of stones brought from England and beautifully designed in a neo-classical fashion.

The oriGin oF The marvelhe Asiatic Society of Mumbai (formerly Asiatic Society of Bombay) is an institution known for its contribution in the ield of Asian studies. It forms part of the network of institutions created by the British to generate, systematise and disseminate knowledge of India and the Orient, a vast and cu-mulative body of information, learning and knowl-edge that constituted the ield of Indology. It was encyclopaedic in its scope, embracing diverse areas like numismatics, epigraphy, anthropology, history, archaeology, linguistics, philology, natural history, geology, philosophy, literature and theology.

he origin of the Asiatic Society can be traced to the Literary Society of Bombay that irst met in Mumbai on November 26, 1804, and was founded by Sir James Mackintosh with the intention of “pro-moting useful knowledge about India”.

Sir James Mackintosh was inluenced by Sir William Jones who had established the Asiatic So-ciety of Bengal two decades earlier. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently inaugurated the reno-vated 180-year-old Town Hall.

WhaT’S There To See?Even in the age of Internet, where one can get infor-mation with a click of a button, the Asiatic Society library has remained a storehouse of information serving generations ater generations. Stalwarts such as Dadabhai Naoroji, Dr Babasaheb Ambed-kar, S. A. Dange and Durga Bhagawat frequently visited and read in the library.

he library has over 3,000 ancient manuscripts, some on palm leaves, in Persian, Prakrit, Urdu and Sanskrit, lakhs of books—ancient as well as con-temporary—and priceless artefacts. A collection of 1,000 ancient coins, including one issued during the


Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at the inauguration of the refurbished Central library of the town hall, mumbai

rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, is stored along with a gold mohur from Mughal Emperor Akbar.

Dante’s irst issue of Inferno, Divine Comedy is the most valued treasure in the library. here are manuscripts of Vasupujyacharita (1242), a Sanskrit text on the life of the Jain Tirthankara Vasupujya, Shahnama of Firdausi (1853) written in Persian and Aranyakaparvan (16th century) with illustrated text from Mahabharat written in Sanskrit, besides ive Buddhist caskets excavated in the ancient port town of Sopara near the suburb of Nala Sopara. While you are here, do check out the impressive collection of 1,300 rare maps. n

one of The moST maJeSTIc STrucTureS

amonG The oTher herITaGe buIldInGS In The

cITy of mumbaI, The Town hall repreSenTS

one of The laST archITecTural remnanTS

of The vIcTorIan bombay. The obJecTIve

behInd ITS conServaTIon IS To InSpIre

reSearch and TreaSure The lITeraTure


NAvIGATor: ToWN hAlll Location: Horniman Circle, Shahid Bhagat

Singh Road, Fort, Mumbai. Churchgate Station

is the nearest railway station.

l Highlights: Over 8 lakh antique volumes.

l Nearby Tourist Attractions: Horniman Circle

Gardens, St. Thomas Cathedral church

l How to Reach: Public Transport (MTDC Buses,

auto-rickshaws, taxis)

l Timings: 10:30 A.M to 5:30 P.M.

(Sunday closed)

Right from daily transactions to bank-ing to one’s identity, a thumb impres-sion is the key to unlock one’s potential in the era of digital economy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ushered in

this era from Nagpur, on the occasion of 126th birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, by launching the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM)-Aadhaar Pay App.

BHIM-Aadhaar is the merchant interface of BHIM App that enables every Indian to pay digi-tally using his/her biometric data like thumb im-print on a biometric data enabled device with the merchant. his device could be a smartphone hav-ing a biometric data reader. already 27 major banks have been on-boarded with three lakh merchants, and they can now start accepting payments through the platform.

Chief minister devendra Fadnavis, Union min-ister for road Transport, highways and Shipping nitin Gadkari, Union minister for law and justice and Information Technology ravi Shankar prasad, Union minister for Coal and power piyush Goyal, Union minister of State for home hansraj ahir, Union minister of State for Social justice and em-

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ushers in a new era of economic reforms through

launch of BHIM-Aadhaar Pay App during his

recent visit to Nagpur, says kartik lokhanDe

powerment ramdas athawale, Union minister for human resource development prakash javadekar, maharashtra minister for energy Chandrashekhar Bawankule, minister for water resources Girish mahajan, minister for housing prakash mehta, ramtek member of parliament Krupal Tumane and mayor nanda jichkar attended the event.

he prime minister said that digi dhan was part of the cleanliness drive against corruption and black money, and appealed to the youth to join him by propagating BhIm-aadhaar pay app. To fur-ther the goal of digital India, he announced refer-ral Bonus Scheme for spreading digital literacy and increasing the use of BhIm-aadhaar pay app.

From ambedkar jayanti on april 14 to dham-ma Chakra pravartan din on october 14, youth should utilise their holidays and time to make people aware about the app and ways to use it, the prime minister said. “It will help us in realising the dream of dr Babasaheb ambedkar of social inclu-sion and social empowerment through economic reforms,” he added.

Under the referral Bonus Scheme, the young-ster with whose referral a person downloads and uses BhIm-aadhaar pay app will get `10 for every

PM VISITNagpur


any cITIzen wIThouT acceSS To SmarTphoneS, InTerneT, debIT or credIT cardS wIll alSo be able To TranSacT dIGITally ThrouGh bhIm-aadhaar plaTform. IT IS parT of The larGer dIGITal IndIa InITIaTIve

START OF A dIGITAL

REvOLUTIOn In EcOnOmY


transaction performed by the person. If there are 20 transactions a day, the youngster will get ̀ 200 in his bank account.

Under Cashback Scheme, the merchants who use the mobile phone application will get `25 per transaction. “Youths will, thus, become soldiers in ighting black money and corruption and volun-teers working to realise the dream of a great vision-ary dr Babasaheb ambedkar,” the prime minister said. he went on to say, “Soon, time will come when poor people will say that digi dhan is their ‘niji dhan,’ as digital platforms will stop pilferage of funds meant for them.”

he prime minister called BhIm app a revo-lutionising factor in the economy, and said that BhIm-aadhaar would make thumb impression the ‘centre of power’.

he prime minister launched various schemes under the digi dhan initiative. he distributed priz-es to winners under lucky Grahak yojana and digi dhanvyapaar yojana, launched referral Bonus and Cash Back schemes for BhIm app, declared 75 townships going less-cash, and released commem-orative postal stamp on dr Babasaheb ambedkar and deekshabhoomi. he dedicated to the nation the new units with super-critical technology at Ko-radi hermal power Station.

Governor of maharashtra Ch.vidyasagar rao, Chief minister devendra Fadnavis, Union min-isters nitin Gadkari, ravi Shankar prasad, piyush Goyal and ramdas athawale, and State leaders Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Girish mahajan, Kru-pal Tumane, nanda jichkar and other dignitaries graced the occasion.

with an aim to develop nagpur as a modern ed-ucational hub, prime minister narendra modi laid the foundation stones for the buildings of Indian Institute of management (IIm), all India Institute

(Clockwise from left) prime minister narendra modi visits Deekshabhoomi to pay tribute to Dr Babasaheb ambedkar; at the bhoomi poojan of iim nagpur in the presence of union ministers nitin gadkari, ravi shankar prasad, prakash Javadekar and piyush goyal and Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis; and at the launch of Bhim-aadhaar app in nagpur

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Maharashtra would take steps towards transforming Dr Babasa-

heb Ambedkar’s dreams into reality by car-rying forward initiatives like Digital India. “Between April 14 and May 14, Aadhaar-enabled point of sale machines will be given to all Gram Panchayats in the State. Besides, we will plan to achieve the target of efecting 10 crore transactions using the digital plat-form,” he said.

By December 2018, an optical ibre net-work will cover all villages in maharashtra, assured the Chief minister. on housing de-velopment for poor, the Chief minister said that the Government would not stop at con-struction of 40,000 houses under pradhan mantri awas yojana, but would increase the number every three months to ensure that no needy is let out. He said that construction of 2.50 lakh housing units has begun.

DiGiTal reFormS To inCreaSe revenUeUnion Minister for Road Transport, High-ways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari has said that Nagpur would enter a new phase on May 1, when electric taxis would be rolled out on city roads. “With this, Nagpur will become the irst city in India to have electric taxis. his will strengthen cleaner transport system in nagpur, which already has got ethanol-based public transport buses,” he added.

he Union minister said that Goods and Services Tax and digital reforms would in-crease country’s revenue to `28 lakh crore. “digital transactions will help India become an economic superpower,” he added.

ambaSSaDorS oF DiGiTal revolUTionprime minister narendra modi felicitated the winners of lucky Grahak yojana and digi dhan vyapaar yojana on the occasion. of these six winners, two come from the State of maharashtra. he irst three prize winners in each of the categories are:

lucky Grahak yojana: Shraddha mengshette from latur, maharashtra; hardik Kumar from Khambat, Gujarat; and Bharat Singh from Sherpur, Uttarakhand. Shraddha mengshette won the biggest prize of `1 crore under lucky Grahak yojana for making a transaction of `1,590 through her rupay card online to pay the monthly emI of her new mobile phone.

digi dhan vyapaar yojana: G. r. radhakrishnan of GrT jewellers (Chennai), ragini Uttekar, a beautician from hane (maharashtra) and Shaik rai from ameerpet (Telangana).

“maharaShTra To GIve aadhaar-enabled poS machIneS To all Gram panchayaTS”

PM VISITNagpur


of medical Sciences (aIImS) and Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT). he launched the housing For all scheme under pradhan mantri awas yojana for maharashtra. Under the scheme, 40,000 houses will be constructed in the State.

a short ilm on dr Babasaheb ambedkar was shown on the occasion. a short ilm on 100 digi dhan melas was also shown.

on his arrival in nagpur, the prime minis-ter visited deekshabhoomi and paid tributes to dr Babasaheb ambedkar, prayed before the stat-ue of Gautam Buddha, meditated for a while, and wrote his remark in the visitor’s book. meanwhile, Union minister for law and justice and Informa-tion Technology ravi Shankar prasad announced that nagpur would get an incubation centre for start-ups.

leSS-CASH TOWNSHIPSprime minister narendra modi also declared 81 less-cash townships across 12 States of India facilitated by Gujarat narmada valley Fertilisers & Chemicals limited (GnFC) under the auspices of nITI aayog. nITI aayog has advised all Union Government ministries and Chairmen and managing directors of 300-plus central public sector undertakings for adopting the GnFC model and replicating it.

hese 81 townships include those of central public sector companies like onGC, Indian oil, nTpC, SaIl, Bhel, nmdC, CrpF, BSF and po-lice lines and private sector townships such as reli-ance, essar, adani, aditya Birla and welspun spread across 12 Indian States, including delhi, Gujarat, maharashtra, Uttar pradesh, madhya pradesh, Bi-har and Chhattisgarh. n

“youth should become soldiers in ighting black money and corrup-tion and volunteers working to realise the dream of a great visionary Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar… ” —narenDra moDi

Prime Minister

prime minister narendra modi awards Digi Dhan Vyapaar Yojana award to g. r. radhakrishnan in the presence of union ministers ravi shankar prasad and prakash Javadekar and Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis

MAHARASHTRAIndia and beyond

Maha leapsIn past three years, the State of Maharashtra registered massive growth on all fronts. The consistent support from the Capital has helped it to become a force to reckon with not just within India, but also on the global front. Be it boosting investments in its manufacturing mission or achieving development goals, the State has been moving fast

1. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the first NITI Aayog meeting; 2. Devendra Fadnavis in a fighter plane made by SAAB during his visit to Germany; 3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis; 4. The Chief Minister with Shinichi Koizumi of Toray during his visit to Davos for the World Economic Forum; 5. The State Government delegation invites Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Simhastha Kumbh Mela; 6. Chief Minister meeting Former Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi for environment clearance of the coastal road project; 7. Devendra Fadnavis presenting a memento to xia hongmin, Vice-Governor, Gansu, China; 8. The Prime Minister, Chief Minister and Maharashtra Minister for Social Justice Rajkumar Badole with a replica of Ashok Stambh at the london memorial of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar; 9. The Prime Minister with Devendra Fadnavis and other State Chief Ministers at a NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi; 10. The Prime Minister, Former Union Textiles Minister Santosh Gangwar and Chief Minister on the MoU signing of Indu Mill land for Dr Ambedkar memorial

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o.I.g.s. presented by

The government of India

meenal Joglekar

senior Assistant Director

Directorate general of Information and public Relations

Maharashtra government

Barrack No. 19, Free press Journal Marg

Mumbai 400 021.

printed at Kala Jyothi process pvt. ltd., plot No. W-17 & W-18, MIDC, Taloja Industrial Area, Taloja-410 208, Navi Mumbai.

published by Directorate general of Infromation & public Relations Mantralaya Mumbai 400 032 on behalf of government of

Maharashtra. Managing editor BriJesh singh, Director general of Information and public Relations.

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