Important Decisions Made by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at the Maharashtra State Rehabilitation Authority and State Rehabilitation and Resettlement Coordination Committee Meeting

• Rehabilitated Villages to be Taken Over by the Rural Development Department Immediately
• Additional Funds Allocated for the Development of Rehabilitated Villages
• Status of Project Victims Granted to Villages Completely Buried by Landslides
• Special Funds for Villages Affected by the Hydropower Project in Koyna
• Increased Subsistence Allowance for Tarli Project Victims in Satara District
• Rehabilitation of Villages in Yavatmal and Beed Districts

Mumbai: The Village Development Department should immediately take over the rehabilitated villages established for the project victims of various state development projects. Maharashtra State Rehabilitation Authority and State Rehabilitation and Resettlement Coordination Committee Chairman and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar made an important decision today to allocate additional funds required for the development of these villages. This includes the provision of 18 civic facilities to the resettled villages. This decision paves the way for the development of many resettled villages in the state and resolves a long-standing issue. An important decision was also made to grant the status of project victims to the affected people of Wadas, settlements, Tandes, Pades, and villages completely buried due to landslides.

A meeting of the Maharashtra State Rehabilitation Authority and State Rehabilitation and Resettlement Coordination Committee was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in the committee room of Sahyadri State Guest House. Members of the Authority and Revenue Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Co-Chairman of the Authority and Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Anil Patil, Water Conservation Minister Sanjay Rathod, Upper Chief Secretary of Revenue Department Rajesh Kumar, Upper Chief Secretary of Water Resources Department Deepak Kapoor, Upper Chief Secretary of Finance Department O.P. Gupta, Principal Secretary of Revenue and Forest Department Dr. B. Venugopal Reddy, Principal Secretary of Relief and Rehabilitation Department Sonia Sethi, Joint Secretary of Law and Justice Department Bushra Syed, and Roads Secretary Sanjay Dashpute were present.

Various projects contribute significantly to the development of the state. For the rehabilitation of project victims affected by these projects, resettlement villages have been established at various locations in the state. However, as many resettled villages have not yet been transferred to the Rural Development Department, there have been difficulties in providing funds for their development, stalling their progress. To address this, the Rural Development Department should take over all the resettled villages in the state ‘as is.’ Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar decided to provide additional funds for development works along with 18 civic facilities to these villages. Additionally, it was decided that vacant plots in the resettled villages without allocation for many years should be given to the project-affected people in the following priority order: first to the project-affected people of the respective district, then to other project-affected people in the state, and if there are still leftover plots, they should be auctioned as per the rules.

Special funds should be made available from the Koyna Earthquake Rehabilitation Fund for the villages affected by the Koyna Dam Project, including Gokul, Rasati, Helwak, and the villages under the Shivandeshwar Project affected by hydropower projects. The decision was made to increase the livelihood allowances of the project victims whose land has been lost in the Tarli project in Satara district.

It was also decided to submit a proposal to the cabinet meeting to rehabilitate the project victims of Sukli (T. Dharur) of the Gunwanti Irrigation Project in Beed district, as well as the eligible project-affected families of Kurli and Ghamapur (T. Umarkhed) villages of Amdapur Laghu Irrigation Project in Yavatmal district.