Gaikwad said more than 12 lakh pedestrians, who commute to the railway stations daily, are making use of the skywalks. 'There are around 20 suburban railway stations and many of them see a daily footfall of more than one lakh commuters.'
After a series of criticisms, the 36-odd pedestrian walkways constructed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) have finally found a defender in chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad.
Speaking to DNA, Gaikwad—during whose tenure most of these walkways were built— has strongly defended the need for them.
“While planning theses skywalks, the officials were aware about the metro alignments coming our way. A section of the media has come up with reports saying that some of the skywalks will be demolished making way for the metro’s line two. However, let me say that none of the skywalks will be demolished. The one in Vile Parle (W) was consciously planned up to SV Road. The officials were aware that the metro alignment was in the way. We had a plan to merge it with the concourse,” said the top state bureaucrat.
Gaikwad said more than 12 lakh pedestrians, who commute to the railway stations daily, are making use of the skywalks. “There are around 20 suburban railway stations and many of them see a daily footfall of more than one lakh commuters. How can I be singled out and targeted by anyone? Actually, the skywalks were a part of the Station Area Traffic Improvement System or SATIS-which was to be constructed under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP).
The state’s top babu chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad has expressed his strong support for the implementation of affirmative action in the corporate sector while talking with DNA at a workshop at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) on Sunday.
Gaikwad said, “The corporate sector should implement affirmative action. It is done (by the corporate sector) in the US too. We (the state administration) will have a dialogue and convince them (private companies in the state) to make their workplaces more inclusive.
” When asked if he thought the implementation of affirmative action should be made legally binding, Gaikwad answered in the negative. Instead, he suggested, companies could at least do “capacity building amongst the young from these (socially discriminated) castes by imparting skill training.” He hastened to add that he was in favour of imparting “skills training” to all in need but emphasis should be on those who belong to marginalised castes.
Earlier, Gaikwad addressed a gathering of senior police officials. The cops were attending a workshop on how to assess the implementation of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. He cited several instances where ‘lower castes’ (especially Dalits) were discriminated against and harassed.
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