Uddhav Thackeray promises new International Finance Centre in Dharavi
Thackeray also said his party would bring back the old pension scheme for all government employees, months after the Maharashtra cabinet approved the central government’s Unified Pension Scheme
Mumbai: Unveiling the Shiv Sena (UBT) manifesto for the Maharashtra assembly elections, party chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday promised to build a new International Finance Centre (IFC) in Dharavi and scrap the redevelopment project of Asia’s largest slum that has been allotted to the Adani Group if voted to power.
Thackeray also said his party would bring back the old pension scheme for all government employees, months after the Maharashtra cabinet approved the central government’s Unified Pension Scheme. He assured male students would also get free education in the state on the lines of a similar government policy for female students, and promised free travel for women in public transport buses.
The former chief minister also declared that the Shiv Bhojan subsidised meal scheme for the underprivileged would be restarted and a temple of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj would be built in every district of Maharashtra once the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, of which the Shiv Sena (UBT) is a part, comes to power.
Addressing the media after releasing his party’s manifesto, Vachan Nama, at his residence, Matoshree, Thackeray clarified that the MVA would also release a joint manifesto by this weekend. “We have a tradition to promise what we can do and act as per the promises. We have fulfilled such promises in the past. Now, too, we are releasing our Vachan Nama with the same commitment,” the former chief minister said.
Laying down his plans for Dharavi, which is at the centre of a controversial, multi-crore redevelopment plan helmed by the Adani Group, Thackeray vowed to scrap the project and provide homes to residents of the slum within the area. The Adani Group-led Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd has sought 23 land parcels across Mumbai, in areas like Mulund, Deonar and Madh, to rehabilitate people who are ineligible to get homes in Dharavi.
“We will scrap the decisions to allocate land parcels to the Adani Group for the Dharavi project and will provide one lakh affordable homes to sons of the soil in Mumbai,” the manifesto states. “We will also give five lakh homes to the people of Maharashtra in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.”
Thackeray also vowed to build an International Finance Centre in Dharavi, which was announced by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the undivided Shiv Sena alliance in 2015 but never saw the light of the day. “Employment is the most important issue for the youth due to rising unemployment. So, to generate employment opportunities, once we come to power, we will build an International Finance Centre at Dharavi,” he said.
The party’s manifesto also includes a new policy for redeveloping slums in major cities of Maharashtra, such as Solapur, Pune, Kolhapur, and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.
Thackeray also promised that the Mahalakshmi Racecourse land would remain an open space and that no construction would be allowed on it. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, currently administered by the state government, plans to convert part of the racecourse land into a central park. The Shiv Sena (UBT) manifesto also states that the party will develop recreational space for tourism along the city’s eastern coast without touching the Indian Navy’s and Mumbai Port Trust land.
In an attempt to woo the fisher community in Mumbai, Thackeray promised to cancel a government order regarding cluster development in koliwadas or fishing villages in Mumbai. “Redevelopment will be undertaken as per the needs and demands of the fisher community,” he said.
Thackeray also reiterated the five other promises his party made earlier this week: free education for boys, affordable homes for Marathi people in MMR, all-women police stations, guaranteed crop prices for farmers, and stability in the prices of sugar, pulses, oil, wheat, and rice.
Among other promises listed in the ‘Vachan Nama’ are health insurance of ₹25 lakh to each family in the state, increasing the honorarium of Asha and Anganwadi workers, and recruiting 18,000 women in the state police force.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) manifesto was released a day after the MVA, which also includes the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), announced a slew of sops, including ₹3,000 a month to underprivileged women and ₹4,000 a month to unemployed young people ahead of the high-stakes state polls.
BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule criticised Thackeray for releasing the Shiv Sena (UBT) manifesto from home instead of the party’s headquarters, Shiv Sena Bhavan. “Uddhav Thackeray, who did a Facebook live for two and half years from home, today released his party manifesto from home. Party founder Balasaheb Thackeray use to release the manifesto from Shiv Sena Bhavan as he used to look at the larger interest of Maharashtra. But Uddhav Thackeray only looks at his family’s interest,” said Bawankule.