Governor address to both Houses of State Legislature

HON’BLE CHAIRMAN, HON’BLE SPEAKER AND HON’BLE MEMBERS,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this first session of the state legislature after the recent general elections for the 14th state legislative assembly. I extend my heartiest congratulations to the newly elected members of the state legislative assembly and to the chief minister and his council of ministers.

My government shall uphold all the values enshrined in the constitution. My government is committed to deliver justice to all regions and social sections.

My Government will continue to follow the high ideals of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and many other great leaders and social reformers in serving the people of the state.

My government pays homage to the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary. To propagate his thoughts and ideals to the new generation various programmes are being organised in the State.

My Government re-iterates its commitment to the protection of the constitutional rights and privileges of the Marathi speaking people of 865 villages claimed by the state in relation to Maharashtra-Karnataka border. My government will continue to take a firm stand and strive to get justice in the matter pending in the Supreme Court.

My government is alive to the challenges posed by climate change in urban and rural areas and will actively implement remedial measures to minimize the harmful effects of climate change. Recently the state suffered widespread damage due to floods in Western Maharashtra and at the same time large parts of the state suffered from drought. Of late rainfall is erratic, intermittent and unduly heavy. In October and November we had heavy, unseasonal rain that caused widespread damage in 349 talukas of 34 districts. My Government is committed to provide immediate assistance to the farmers who suffered due to unseasonal rain.

My government is seized of the agrarian crisis and farmers’ distress that needs immediate attention. The government shall take necessary steps to free farmers from debt and their worries.

My government recognises the need to redress the ills of the rural credit sector and it shall take all necessary steps to ensure immediate compensation to farmers who suffer crop losses.

Fluctuations in agricultural prices cause financial distress to farmers. My government shall undertake appropriate measures to ensure remunerative prices for farm produce to reduce agrarian distress.

My Government shall take steps for the construction of a sustainable water supply system in the drought affected areas of the state and specially in Marathwada and Vidarbha.

This government is concerned with the rising unemployment and the resultant restlessness among the youth. With a view to create employment and also ensure speedy delivery of public services, my government shall initiate the process of filling vacant posts of the state government.

Growing unemployment is prime concern of this government. We shall enact a law to ensure 80 per cent reservation in private sector jobs for the sons of the soil.

My government recognises the need to impart skills to the youth to make them employable. My government shall try to provide fellowship to the educated unemployed youth.

A progressive society provides equal opportunity to women. Women safety shall be the highest priority of my government and my government shall take all necessary steps for the same.

Education has become costlier and beyond the reach of the common man. My government shall strive to provide free college and higher education to girls belonging to economically weaker families.

Providing secure accommodation to working women will ensure mobility and greater employment opportunities. My government shall try to construct working women hostels in all district headquarters and major cities in the state in a time bound manner.

My government appreciates the work of anganwadi sevikas and aasha workers in health and nutrition sector. My government shall try to improve the service facilities of the anganwadi sevikas and aasha workers.

The state has eight lakh self-help groups managed by the women. My government shall try to strengthen self-help groups by imparting economically rewarding skills through skill development programmes with focus on women’s empowerment. My government is desirous of giving priority in government procurement to women self-help groups to make them financially sustainable.

The demographic dividend cannot accrue without improvement in the standard of education. My government will undertake all measures to improve the standards of primary and secondary education in the state.

My Government will develop human development index at the block level for greater focus on health, education and livelihood sectors for which special funds will be provided to the comparatively backward blocks under human development programme.

My government will provide separate financial provision to improve the road quality in Nagar Panchayats, Municipal Councils and Municipal Corporations. To improve the road condition in urban areas, my government will implement a new scheme on the pattern of Chief Minister Gram Sadak Yojana.

Long pending issues of slum dwellers is a major concern for the state. My government shall accelerate the steps taken to provide tenements to the eligible slum dwellers under the slum rehabilitation programme in Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra.

My government is committed to all round development of Mumbai and other cities of Maharashtra. My government shall strengthen the urban infrastructure in the state.

My government plans to provide best amenities and infrastructure by combining the slum rehabilitation projects with other schemes and infrastructure projects.

Costly pathological tests are beyond the reach of common man. My government will start “One Rupee Clinic” scheme at taluka level to carry out all pathological tests.

To provide affordable speciality health care for all, my government shall establish super speciality hospitals and medical colleges in a phased manner in all districts of the state.

Recognizing the need to consolidate and streamline several health insurance schemes, my government will try to combine various health insurance programmes to provide health insurance cover for all citizens of the state.

To attract new industries and investment in the state, my government shall extend all possible fiscal and non-fiscal concessions. The permission process to establish industries will be simplified.

The growing digitization of day to day activities provides immense opportunities for information technology industries. My state has plenty of educated unemployed youths trained in information technology. My government shall formulate a new policy to attract investment in information technology sector to generate employment opportunities for the local educated youth.

All the police stations in the state will be linked to the national cyber-crime reporting portal. It will automatically classify all cyber-crime complaints to the concerned police commissioners and police stations at district level.

In order to enhance the efficiency of police in cybercrime investigations, police officers and personnel will be trained in the coming year. Citizen awareness programs will also be organized.

My government will address and solve the pending questions of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Bhatke, Vimukta Jatis, Dhangar, Other Backward Classes, Balutedars, etc. We aim to fulfil the basic necessities of food, clothing, shelter, education, health and employment for the deprived communities.

The protected forts related to history of Maharashtra hold high cultural, traditional and sentimental connection with the people of the state. The traditional tourist destinations like forts in the state hold great socio-cultural importance, my government will develop special facilities for conservation and preservation of forts.

In order to promote and propagate Marathi, my government has decided to strengthen the Marathi Bhasha Bhavan main centre at Mumbai and the sub-centre at Airoli, Navi Mumbai.

To celebrate the birth centenary year of the great writers/singer/music composer, P. L. Deshpande, G.D. Madgulkar and Sudhir Phadke, my Government proposes to organize several programmes including workshops on singing/writing/acting, Stand-up comedy competition etc., in the year 2019-20.

Senior citizens are a treasure to the society and their health and security is the prime responsibility of the state, my government shall take steps to increase the social security network extended to the senior citizens.

Adulteration of drug and food items is a major concern and it will be dealt with stern action. My government is firmly determined to ensure severe action against the violators of food and drug regulations.

My government shall take effective steps to provide meals at a reasonable rate of Rs. 10 per meal to ensure that the citizens get fresh and nutritious food.

Ill effects of plastic, thermocol and plastic bags on environment are well known. It leads to flooding in urban areas, damage to agro-eco system impacts marine life and increases the financial burden of local authorities to manage plastic waste and adversely affects biodiversity. To mitigate this my Government has banned single use plastic and thermocol cutlery, plastic and non-woven bags across the state. My government will implement this ban effectively.

My government will implement integrated coastal zone management project for coastal protection, livelihood enhancement for coastal communities and disaster management under the National Clean Air Programme.

To protect the interest of traditional fisherman on the coastline, my government will take strong action against unscientific and unsustainable fishing activities.

My government will present factual report showing the present financial status of the state before the people. Also, my government is committed to improve the fiscal health and the financial discipline of the state.

Hon’ble Members, my government will provide a clean, transparent, responsible and result-oriented administration to the people of the state. I am sure that all the members of both the Houses will extend their whole-hearted co-operation, support and guidance to the government in this endeavour.

Once again, I extend my warm greetings.

Jai Hind ! Jai Maharashtra !