Mah Govt to strive to get ULC resolution passed before March 2008

Nagpur, Nov 18 (UNI) The Maharashtra government would strive to get the resolution on scrapping the provisions of the Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) Act in the state adopted before the March 2008 deadline, said Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh here today.

Speaking to reporters on the eve of the winter session of the state Legislature, Mr Deshmukh said the resolution is pending before the two Houses at present. A discussion was held on the resolution during the last two sessions of the Legislature, and the issue would come up for discussion again on November 21, he said.

The resolution has become necessary, as the Central Government had repealed the ULC Act, he said, and expressed confidence that it would be adopted in both the Houses.

''It would be improper for me to comment as to when the Legislature would pass the resolution, as it would be an infringement on the authority of the House,'' he also said.

Mr Deshmukh said the Centre was considering the demand to grant a waiver on the outstanding loans of farmers in various states. The state government would decide its stand on the issue after the Centre's decision, he said, adding that as of now, the amount of outstanding loan taken out by farmers from cooperative banks was Rs 7,500 crore in the entire state.

The state government had sent a proposal to the Centre to hike the amount of the relief package for the distressed farmers in six districts of Vidarbha, announced by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in July 2006, the Chief Minister said.

As many as 12 bills would be brought before the Legislature for consideration during the winter session. These included the National Law School Bill, he said, adding that another bill to treat the land belonging to Wakf Boards as government property for the purposes of evicting encroachers would be tabled during the session.

The government would table the supplementary budget for 2007-2008 during the first week of the session, the Mr Deshmukh said.

The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) has finalised the programme for the first week of the winter session. It is slated to meet again on November 22 to consider the further programme, he added.

UNI