Monsoon Session of Maharashtra Assembly ends: 23 bills passed; Nanar refinery project, dairy farmers' stir dominate proceedings

Nagpur: Nanar refinery project, Navi Mumbai land scam, Shivaji memorial in the Arabian sea, Maratha quota and dairy farmers’ stir dominated the monsoon session of the Maharashtra legislature which ended in Nagpur on Friday. Under attack from Opposition for allegedly giving his “blessings” to an alleged land scam in Navi Mumbai, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a judicial probe into the scam as well as over 200 similar cases. During the session, the BJP-led government also announced increased rate of Rs 25 per litre of milk for dairy farmers following their four-day stir that had hit milk supplies to some of the key cities of the state. The government came under fire for reducing the height of the planned equestrian statute of King Shivaji, to be erected off Mumbai coast. The chief minister assured that the statue would be the tallest in the world. [caption id=“attachment_4580961” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Reuters[/caption] The government also announced, during the session, that it would write off farm loans of upto Rs 1.5 lakh of every individual farmer, provided he/she clears rest of the dues in advance. Earlier, the loan waiver of upto Rs 1.5 lakh was per family and not per individual. Opposition sought to corner the government, in particular the BJP, by accusing it of dilly-dallying over its promise of extending OBC quota to the Maratha community. The chief minister announced that 16 percent of the 72,000 posts the government is set to fill would be allotted to candidates from the community in the form of backlog, if the Bombay High Court allows a quota for Marathas. Announcing end of the session in the Assembly, which had started on 4 July, Speaker Haribhau Bagade said the Lower House transacted business for 86 hours and 19 minutes during 13 sittings. The business could not be transacted for 8 hours 9 minutes due to absence of ministers. The Assembly worked for an average of 6 hours and 39 minutes. In all, the Assembly passed 23 bills. The Assembly and Legislative Council together cleared 15 bills. The average presence of the members in the Assembly was 76.42 percent. The Upper House transacted business for 74 hours 12 minutes, while 8 hours 17 minutes were wasted. The Council saw 22 bills getting cleared. The winter session of the state legislature is likely to be convened on 19 November.