State working for welfare of all backward communities: Guv Bais

Governor Bais highlighted Maharashtra's 10% Maratha reservation bill, FDI leadership, and welfare schemes for backward communities in his legislative address.

Mumbai: Addressing the legislature ahead of the passage of the bill granting 10% reservation to Marathas, governor Ramesh Bais on Tuesday said the state government was working for the welfare of all backward communities. He also said that Maharashtra was the leading state in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), accounting for 38.78% of the country’s total FDI.

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With the row over Maratha quota refusing to die down and Other Backward Classes (OBC) organising counter-agitations fearing a slash in their quota, Bais related several examples to buttress the claim that the state government was not working merely for Maratha reservation, but had taken numerous decisions for the welfare of all backward communities.

“The state government is implementing the ‘Modi Awas Housing Scheme’, under which 10 lakh houses will be constructed for OBCs, denotified tribes, nomadic tribes and special backward classes in the state within the next three years,” Bais said, adding that ₹12,000 crore would be made available under the scheme.

He also said that the government had decided to establish corporations for the upliftment of Gurava, Lingayat, Nabhik, Ramoshi and Wadar communities.

Addressing concerns over investments going from Maharashtra to other states, he said, “Maharashtra is the leading state in attracting FDI worth ₹65,500 crore, which is 38.78% of the country’s total FDI. In January 2024, the government signed memorandum of understandings worth more than ₹3,53,000 crore at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which will generate two lakhs jobs.”

The governor said Maharashtra’s contribution in the national GDP was 14.2%, while in exports, it contributed 17.3%. The government had set a target of the state becoming a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2027-28 in line with the country’s goal of becoming a five-trillion-dollar economy, he stated.

Bais also said that the government had established 511 Pramod Mahajan Rural Skill Development Centres to develop skills for employment among the rural youth. The government had started the process of recruitment for 1,53,000 government jobs, he noted.