More than the month-long political saga after the Assembly election results were declared has finally come to an end in Maharashtra with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray swearing-in this evening at Mumbai's iconic Shivaji Park. The soft-spoken son of late Balasaheb Thackeray, Uddhav will be the 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress have joined hands to give Maharashtra a government. Their new formation is now called Maha Vikas Aghadi. With a change in power in the state, fate of key development projects now hangs in balance. It would be interesting to see which way the new government decides on projects like the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project (PM Modi's dream project) or for that matter the Ratnagiri oil refinery project.
Indiatvnews.com takes a look at key issues mentioned in the Maha Vikas Aghadi's Common Minimum Programme - a vision document that is supposed to be Uddhav Thackeray's blueprint of governance.
Farm loan waiver
Farm loan waiver is Maha Vikas Aghadi's most important agenda, also documented in their CMP.
Issues that will be on Uddhav's immediate agenda are loan waiver to farmers, prompt assistance to farmers suffering due to unseasonal rains and floods, revising the crop insurance scheme to ensure immediate compensation to farmers who have suffered crop losses, ensuring remunerative prices for farm produce and sustainable water supply schemes for the drought-hit regions.
Unemployment
To address unemployment, the MVA regime will take immediate steps to fill up all vacant posts in the government, enact a law to provide 80 per cent jobs to domiciled locals, and provide fellowships to educated unemployed youth.
Education
For women, girls from economically weaker sections will be given free education, working women's hostels will be built in cities and district headquarters, increased honorarium and better service conditions for Anganwadi sevikas/asha workers, strengthening women's Self Help Groups to empower them, while highest priority will be accorded to safety of women by the government.
The government will take steps to improve the standards of education, children of farmers and economically weaker sections will be given zero interest loans, the three leaders said.
Better Roads
For urban roads development, the new MVA government will bring a scheme designed on the Chief Minister Gram Sadak Yojana with separate financial provisions for Nagar Panchayats, Municipal Councils and Municipal Corporations.
Health and social justice
To ensure good health for all, the government will launch Re 1 clinics at taluka levels to conduct all pathological tests, super-speciality hospitals and medical colleges will be set in each district in a phased manner, and health insurance cover provided to all citizens of Maharashtra.
For ensuring social justice, the government will take measures on pending questions of the SCs/STs/Dhangars/OBCs/Balutedars, etc so that they are not deprived of basics rights like food, shelter, clothing, education, health, employment, besides schemes to eliminate social, educational and economic backwardness of the minority community, as per the Constitution.
