Taking a cue from the States of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar, the Maharashtra Government on Tuesday decided to make it mandatory for candidates contesting the local body polls to have toilets at their homes.
Talking to mediapersons after the weekly State Cabinet meeting, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said: “The State Government has decided to make it mandatory for candidates contesting the local bodies to have toilets at their homes”.
Fadnavis said that the State Government will bring in necessary amendments in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888. Mumbai Village Panchayat Act, 1958 and Maharashtra Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti Act 1961 to enforce its decision.
“The candidates contesting the municipal council and corporation elections will now have to prove that toilet facility at their homes,” Fadnavis said.
The Chief Minister said that his Government had decided to implement Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious ‘Housing for All’ scheme by 2022 in Maharashtra.
“Under the scheme, we will rehabilitate slum dwellers with participation of private developers using land as a resource. We will also use the scheme to promote of affordable housing for weaker sections through credit linked subsidy and affordable housing in partnership with Public and Private sector and subsidy for beneficiary—led individual house for construction or enhancement,” the chief minister said.
The governments of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar have already brought about necessary amendments in their respective laws to implement their policy initiatives making it mandatory for candidates for contesting local body polls to have toilets at their homes. So much so that under the new law, nominations of two candidates contesting the local self-body polls were rejected by the State Election Commission (SEC) in Gujarat last month.
Meanwhile, in another significant development, the Maharashtra Government decided to set up a Maharashtra Nature Tourism Development Board with its headquarters at Nagpur. “The proposed board will promote nature tourism in 48 sanctuaries, 6 National Parks and 4 reserved conservation areas of Maharashtra,” the Chief Minister said.