CM defends govt over Mantralaya suicide

Mumbai: Facing flak from the opposition parties, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday defended the government over the issue of suicides in Mantralaya.

“We are serious about the suicides in Mantralaya. But the opposition is finding opportunities in this to attack the government. The media should not blow up the cases. Dharma Patil was unfortunate The land acquisition was started in 2009, and last hearing was conducted on April 7, 2014.

Once the process is completed, then the government has no right to intervene. Only the court can intervene. Another suicide was by a convict who had brutally killed a person. A man who failed the exam in 2013 wanted a job which is not possible for the government. This truth has to be highlighted by the media,” he said. There were two suicides and a suicide attempt in last two months in Mantralaya.

Mr Fadnavis also claimed that Make in India and Magnetic Maharashtra events were successful. “No state in the country has got such a success rate. Usually, the conversion rate is 30 per cent. But in just two years we have received more than `5 lakh crore which means 63 per cent of MoU have materialised, and there was 71 per cent investment. A task force is trying to clear remaining hurdles,” he added.

The CM rubbished allegations by the opposition over the bullet train project. “The loan for the bullet train project was availed by the Centre and its for 50 years with 0.5 per cent interest rate. The state has no burden for it,” he added.

The CM said that 16 bills would be presented in the budget session of the legislature beginning from Monday. The bills include an amendment in land acquisition, Prime Minister Awas Yojana and an amendment to give more rights to the chairman of Nagar Panchayat.