Mumbai, 28 Oct (HS): A proposal of Rs 230 crore has been approved for the

complete development of Phulewada area in Pune on the 200th birth anniversary year

of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, informed

that under this ambitious plan, the Phulewada area will be beautified as per

the instructions of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the entire area will

be transformed by acquiring the required land.

A special meeting of the committee was held at the

Mantralaya, chaired by Bawankule.

Several policy decisions were announced for the

welfare of Bahujans and Other Backward Classes mark Mahatma Phule's birth

anniversary. Clear instructions were given to complete the construction of the

memorial of the first girls' school of Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule in historic

Bhidewada within the next three weeks. Along with this, it has been decided to

implement all the welfare measures of 11 major departments working on drought

relief including Revenue, Water Supply and Forest Department in the name of

Jyotiba Phule and separate government decisions regarding this will be issued

soon.

OBC hostels with a capacity of 500 each will be set

up in 36 districts to accelerate the education of OBC students. For this, land

will be provided by the Revenue Department at a nominal rate of one rupee and the

design of these hostels has been prepared by MSIDC. Also, a historic decision

has been taken to separate the budget of VJNT from the OBC budget so that

nomadic and denotified castes can directly benefit from the development fund.

An independent study committee is to be set up to

conduct a socio-economic survey of the VJNT community on the lines of the

Shinde Committee set up for the Maratha community and bring them into the

mainstream of development. Apart from this, steps will be taken to immediately

fill the backlog of 27 per cent vacancies in the OBC category in all government

departments. On the lines of 'Sarathi', the scope of 'Mahajyoti' organization

will be expanded to work more effectively.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Ajay Vasant Mardikar