Rao was addressing both Houses on the first day of the budget session held on Wednesday in the midst of sloganeering by the Opposition.
Starting his speech by promising that the memorial to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will come up before 2019 and that the BJP-led government will continue to take "pro-people" decisions, governor C Vidyasagar Rao listed several initiatives the government has already taken and those that it would be taking up, most of which are already in the public domain.
Rao was addressing both Houses on the first day of the budget session held on Wednesday in the midst of sloganeering by the Opposition. After informing that a project management consultant has already been appointed for the memorial, he added, "The government intends to complete the work before 2019."
The initiatives of the Fadnavis government, he listed out, would be spread across transport, health, service, security, social, irrigation, tourism, and power sectors, besides those that are emotive and community centric. However, reservations for Maratha, Muslims, Dhangar and Lingayat communities, for which the Opposition continued to shout slogans, did not find any mention in his speech. The Opposition later slammed the government for it.
Mumbai featured in his speech in initiatives related to transport and security, with Rao saying that work on the Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway will begin in 2016-17, while planning of Metro III, Dahisar to Andheri Metro, global tendering of some sectors of Dharavi, and redevelopment of BDD chawls among others is going on. On CCTVs, work is on, the governor said, adding, as is work on the health Bill that looks to regulate fees in private hospitals.
The Right to Services Act that has been the government's flagship Act found a mention with MAITRI — a single window platform — being proposed that will give 44 permission in 15 departments. The Act will see all services notified by October 2016.
Rao also mentioned some of the initiatives started by the state government for different communities — having 2015-16 as 'Samata and Samajik Nyay Varsh' to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, extending the BARTI institute in Pune, and raising the Karnataka border dispute among others. "The government has appointed the minister for public works and co-operation as the state's co-ordinator to deal with the problems Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka effectively," he added.
For farmers, he said the state has waived off three months' of interest on loans and 33% of their electricity bill, while procuring the highest package for those affected by the drought.
However, Congress spokesperson Anant Gadgil said, "The government has failed to give relief to farmers. It has also failed the financial capital as the CCTV programme still hasn't been implemented in totality. It has also not accepted our demand of ensuring that corrupt ministers quit."
For the first time, the governor was welcomed into Vidhan Bhavan to the tune of the police band, which played the National Anthem, and after his address, parliamentary affairs minister Girish Bapat read out a vote of thanks.
C Vidyasagar Rao was also led from the lobby to the central hall, where he addressed a joint sitting of the two Houses, in an elaborate procession that was expanded to include the chief minister, chief secretary and Bapat. State legislature officials said this change had been brought about after a directive from Rashtrapati Bhavan.
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