Four policy decisions made by the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP administration during its term from 2015 to 2019 but then revoked by the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government will be brought back by the Eknath Shinde and Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government in Maharashtra.
Amongst these decisions are the resumption of pension benefits to those imprisoned during the Emergency and the direct election of village chiefs and municipal council presidents. Farmers’ voting rights in APMC markets have also been restored.
Presidents of Nagar Panchayats, Nagar Parishads, and Sarpanchs of Gram Panchayats in Maharashtra will now be directly elected, the Eknath Shinde-led government declared on Thursday. Senior government officials, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, presided over the cabinet meeting where the decision was made.
In addition, the cabinet resolved to grant farmers voting rights in order to elect members of Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs). Members of the Farm Produce Market Committee are currently elected by members of village panchayats, agriculture credit societies, and multi-purpose cooperative societies under the Maharashtra Agriculture Produce and Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act 1963.
The BJP state government amended the legislation in August 2017 to provide farmers with the opportunity to elect members; nonetheless, the MVA government reversed the decision in January 2020. But from now, farmers with 0.25 acres (1,000 square metres) of land who have sold their produce in the APMC market at least three times in the past five years are eligible to vote.
Both of these measures were taken by the Fadnavis-led BJP-Shiv Sena administration during its tenure (2014-19) but were overturned by the MVA once it came to power in 2019. After regaining power, the BJP-Shinde government has now reversed the MVA’s decisions.
