Discussion on ULCA put off

The Maharashtra government has once again shown that it has no political will to repeal the archaic Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA). It has accepted the Shiv Sena's suggestion to postpone the discussion on the repeal Bill till the winter session of the state Assembly.

After the discussion on the Bill began on Wednesday, barely two or three speakers spoke on the issue before the treasury benches agreed to Leader of Opposition Ramdas Kadam's request to take up the discussion on housing policy first, leaving the discussion on repeal Bill for the last day of the monsoon session.

On Thursday, once again the agenda was packed with 11 Calling Attention Motions and 15 Motions of Property. The discussion on ULCA repeal Bill was the last item on the agenda.

Once again, as the discussion dragged on till late in the evening, Kadam suggested that as it was getting late and many MLAs had already booked their tickets for night trains to their respective constituencies, the discussion should be postponed till the next session.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Patil 'pleaded' Kadam to reconsider his demand but left the decision to Speaker Babasaheb Kupekar, who immediately obliged and postponed the discussion till the winter session.

"There was a clear-cut match-fixing between the Sena and the ruling coalition," alleged a senior BJP MLA whose party is supporting the repeal of the Bill. Had the government wanted to repeal the Act, it would have introduced the Bill in the first week of the three-week session, he pointed out.