Mumbai: Nearly 60 decisions were taken by the Maharashtra government in marathon cabinet meetings held between Monday and Wednesday, just before the Model Code of Conduct sets in across the country.
The decisions include populists proposals and long-pending demands such as renaming of Ahmednagar, changing names of British era railway stations in Mumbai, constructing a guest house in Jammu and Kashmir, passing a policy on women, central park in Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi racecourse, Maharashtra Bhawan at Ayodhya among others.
On Monday, the Mahayuti cabinet passed 33 decisions while on Wednesday, 25 decisions were taken, according to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) press note.
“This is a regular practice just before the Lok Sabha elections. Any government clears major decisions ahead of the elections to impress voters. It is not new,” said a source from CMO requesting anonymity.
Renaming of places
Ahmednagar city and district will now be called ‘Ahilyanagar’ after 18th century Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar. This is the third city to be renamed in less than two years, after Aurangabad and Osmanabad were renamed as Sambhajinagar and Dharashivy.
While the proposal to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad was of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the Mahayuti government approved it on February last year.
The demand to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad was of the undivided Shiv Sena since the time of party patriarch Bal Thackeray.
BJP leader and MLC Gopichand Padalkar had started the campaign to rename Ahmednagar in 2022, and the proposal was announced by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in May last year on the 298th birth anniversary of the 18th century queen.
“This decision taken by the state cabinet is to glorify the work of Punyashlok Ahilya Devi, carry forward her thoughts, work, memory and inspire people’s representatives to do good work. With this decision, the important desire of Ahmednagar city residents, district residents, and 13 crore citizens of Maharashtra has been fulfilled,” Deputy Chief minister Ajit Pawar tweeted Wednesday.
अहमदनगर शहराचं नाव ‘अहिल्यानगर’ करण्याच्या निर्णयाचं मी स्वागत करतो. त्याचप्रमाणे मुख्यमंत्री मा.श्री. @mieknathshinde जी व राज्य मंत्रिमंडळातील सहकाऱ्यांचे आभार मानतो.
राज्य मंत्रिमंडळानं घेतलेला हा निर्णय पुण्यश्लोक अहिल्यादेवींच्या कार्यकर्तृत्वाचा गौरव करणारा, त्यांचे विचार,…
— Ajit Pawar (@AjitPawarSpeaks) March 13, 2024
Similarly, the Shinde cabinet also passed the decision to change the name of Velhe taluka in Pune to ‘Rajgad’. Velha was the first capital of the Maratha empire under Chhatrapati Shivaji.
It also cleared the name changes of eight ‘colonial sounding names’ of the stations that are located on the Western, Central and Harbour lines of Mumbai’s suburban network operated by the Central and the Western Railways.
Curry road station will be Lalbaug; Sandhurst Road on both main line and harbour railway line will be Dongri, Marine Lines will be Mumbadevi; Churni road will be Girgaon; Cotton Green will be Kalachowki station; Dockyard will be Mazgaon; King’s Circle will be Teerthankar Parshwanath railway station.
“The proposal will be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Railways with the approval of the Legislature,” the CMO note said.
In 2018, the Union government renamed Mumbai’s Elphinstone Road station, which took its name from Bombay Presidency governor Lord Elphinstone, as Prabhadevi station.
A few days before that, the name of the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in south Mumbai was modified with the addition of honorific `Maharaj’. Previously known as Victoria Terminus, it is known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT).
Also Read: Why Mumbai’s iconic Mahalaxmi Racecourse is at centre of slugfest between Shinde govt & Opposition
Maharashtra Bhawans
Keeping its promise, the government approved the PWD’s proposed construction of a guesthouse in Ayodhya for pilgrims in the temple town and other holy cities in Uttar Pradesh. The project cost would be upwards Rs 67 crore.
This was one of the requests made by Shinde to his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath when he visited Ayodhya in April last year after becoming the chief minister. Shinde had informed that he has asked Adityanath for land for a Maharashtra Bhawan in Ayodhya and it will be named after Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
This project was also kept in the budget provisions for the current financial year.
Another budget promise to construct a Maharashtra Bhawan in Ichgam area in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district was also cleared by the Shinde cabinet, thereby becoming the first state to go for a state-run guest house in the Kashmir Valley since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
The PWD department has drafted a proposal to acquire a plot measuring 2.5 acre for Rs 8.16 crore so that “the guest house would offer affordable accommodation for tourists visiting the Valley,” the press note said.
Last year, Shinde had requested J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha for a land parcel to construct the bhawan to provide accommodations and facilities for tourists and officials from Maharashtra visiting the Valley.
Other decisions
The Mahayuti cabinet also took some crucial decisions in terms of infrastructure of Mumbai and Maharashtra. The proposal to develop a 300-acre park in Mumbai at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse land was also cleared.
Taking into account the women voters, the Maharashtra cabinet has made it mandatory that mother’s first name be mentioned in all government documents.
From now on, an applicant’s first name must be followed by the mother’s first name and then the father’s first name and surname. The new rule will apply to all those born on or after 1 May 2014
Accordingly, all senior ministers, including the CM and his two deputies, changed the name plate outside their offices in Mantralaya.
The cabinet approved constructing a sea link between Uttan and Virar and in the second phase, a sea link between Virar and Palghar was also approved to increase the connectivity in the suburbs. A sum of Rs 3,756 crore was sanctioned for the Pune metro as well.
The housing department’s proposal to reduce stamp duty for residents of the BDD chawl and slums, too, got the nod. The cabinet also approved a plan for permanent houses for families of workers from 58 erstwhile textile mills.
For the Dhangar community, the cabinet approved 4,000 sq m of land parcel in Navi Mumbai’s Kharghar area, which will be given by the state-owned CIDCO.
Other proposals to get the nod were a policy to include Marathi in the IT sector and a policy for transgenders so that the community could avail various benefits.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Tunnels, cycling tracks, park — all about Worli-Marine Drive stretch of Mumbai coastal road