Mumbai: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday assured in the state assembly that the state government stands firmly behind the citizens of the Maharashtra-Karnataka border area and will not allow injustice to them in any way.
The Chief Minister was speaking on the issue raised by Assembly Member and sr NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal.
While making a statement in this regard, Chief Minister said, we are sensitive about the border issue and have a sincere desire to resolve this issue at the earliest. It is the government’s role to ensure that no injustice is done to the border brothers by the Karnataka government.
The matter is pending in the Supreme Court and expert lawyers have been appointed to present their case in the Supreme Court. Apart from that, senior lawyer Harish Salve has also been asked to represent the state government in this case and he has shown his readiness for it, the Chief Minister informed.
The state government took the initiative to appeal to the central government to resolve this issue, after which the Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with the Chief Ministers of both the states in Delhi.
In this meeting, it was decided to maintain the status quo situation in the border areas till the matter is pending in the Supreme Court. Along with that, it was decided to form a committee of three ministers each from both the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka to resolve other issues.
According to this, three ministers have been selected for this committee and their meeting will be organized soon. The Chief Minister also clarified that the Karnataka government was forced to withdraw the cases filed against the youth of the border areas.
Apart from this, on behalf of the state government, the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund, which is given to organizations in the border areas, has once again started to be given. It has been decided to give grants to schools and institutions in border areas.
Along with this, it has also been decided to apply the benefit of Mahatma Phule Arogyadayai Yojana to the citizens of the border areas. It has also been decided to increase the pension of the freedom fighters in the border war from 10 thousand to 20 thousand.
Speaking on the occasion, Shinde said that it has been decided to give justice to the citizens of the border areas through such decisions and no injustice will be done to the citizens of the border areas. He also said that a meeting was called during the session to discuss this issue.
