Even after the DF Government assured him that it would unveil a new toll policy in the next few weeks, an unyielding MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday asked the people across Maharashtra not to pay the toll (road user tax) till the implementation of the new policy and warned the toll contractors of a “rampage” at their houses if they used force to collect the levy from road users.
A day after he suspended his “rasta-roko” agitation at the request of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, the MNS chief held talks with Chavan, senior Ministers and bureaucrats at the State-run Sahyadri Guest House on the contentious toll collection issue and put forth his views and demands before the State Government.
“The CM assured me that prior to the enforcement of the code of conduct for the lok Sabha polls, the State Government would come with a new toll policy by removing all the lacunae in the previous policy. But, till such time CM does not fulfil his assurance to me, I am asking people across Maharashtra not to pay road user tax.. Our agitation against toll collection will continue till then,” the MNS chief said.
In his interaction with the media after holding talks with Chavan and other State Government representatives, Raj also held out a threat to the toll collection contractors across the State, by saying: “let me make it very clear that in the intervening period (till such time does not bring about changes in the toll policy), if any toll contractor uses intimidation tactics to force road users to pay the toll, then my party activists will go on a rampage in front of the house of the contractor concerned”.
Maintaining that while he was convinced of a “constructive” approach adopted by the Chief Minister during the meeting, Raj said that Chavan had conceded that the State Government had committed mistakes while giving toll collection contracts to private people on a “Build-Operate-Transfer” (BOT) basis in certain places.
“The CM has assured me that the Government would remove lacunae in the new toll policy... But, since the State Government had on several occasions in the past failed to deliver on its promises, I do not want to take the CM’s latest assurance on face value. That’s why I am asking not just party activists but people in the State not to pay toll till such time the CM delivers on his promise,” the MNs chief said.
At his meeting with Raj and senior MNS activists, the Chief Minister candidly admitted that the quality and standard of many roads – constructed on BOT basis – were not satisfactory and said the State Government would initiate stern action against those contractors who were not providing basic amenities at the toll plazas like toilets to road users.
Chavan announced that the State Government would remove all the lacunae in the existing toll policy –being implemented on BOT basis – and come out with a new toll policy before the enforcement of a model code of conduct for the forthcoming lok Sabha polls.
Among other things, the CM assured the MNS chief that the State Government would close down all such plazas, where the toll contracts had expired, and would review the contracts of such toll plazas where the contractors were not making basic amenities to the users.
The CM also announced that the State Government was seriously considering closing down 22 such toll plazas across State, where the value of the respective contract was less than Rs 10 crore each.