Govt moots monsoon session in Nagpur

The state government is seriously considering the idea of holding the monsoon session of Maharashtra legislature in Nagpur instead of usual winter session, said chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Talking to mediapersons at his official residence Ramgiri, Deshmukh said the idea was floated before group leaders and a wider discussion was expected during the ensuing Budget session of the state legislature commencing next week.

The proposal to interchange sessions was mooted looking at the adverse natural conditions prevailing at Mumbai during rainy season. For the last four decades, the winter session is being held at Nagpur according to the Nagpur Pact.

On the issue of development of the cargo hub project, Deshmukh said he would be visiting Bangalore on March 24 and 25 as part of the state's ongoing drive to mobilise investments for the prestigious multi-modal international passenger and cargo hub project.

The chief minister clarified that there was no dispute between the state government and Boeing over allocation of land and that the passenger aircraft giant would perform 'bhoomipujan' soon.

Deshmukh said the agreement for the transfer of Nagpur Airport had already been signed and formality of handover would soon take place.

He claimed that the number of suicides by indebted farmers in the state had actually declined from 60 per cent to 25 per cent over the past two years. Loans worth Rs 1,800 crore had been distributed by various agencies to control the agrarian crisis against Rs 60 crore disbursed earlier, he added.

The chief minister candidly admitted an unintentional mistake by his officers in filing factually incorrect information before the Supreme Court in a public interest litigation pertaining to implementation of the Prime Minister's package for Vidarbha.

Deshmukh made it clear that the Prime Minister had made available a sum of Rs 3 crore for six distressed districts of Vidarbha from the PM's fund. This amount had been used by respective district collectors to provide immediate relief to distressed family members of farmers.

The state government had requested the Prime Minister?s Office (PMO) to release additional funds to help farmers, he disclosed.