State govt to tweak law to check civic land sale at concessional rates

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday decided to add an additional clause to the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act to check the sale of civic body’s land at concessional rates.

The decision was taken at the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis here.

It was decided at the meeting that the government would add an additional clause to the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act’s existing clause 79(d) for not allowing civic land to be given away at concessional rates. “The properties of the civic body can be given away at market prices or more and not at lower rates,” an official in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said. In the meeting, the government also decided to enact a new law for the effective and transparent management of the Shri Shaneshwar Devasthan at Shingnapur, located near the famed temple town of Shirdi, in Ahmednagar district.

The new law will also enable improved facilities for the devotees, the official said. The shrine at the renowned temple, dedicated to Lord Shani, who personifies the planet Saturn in Hindu belief, is located at a short distance from Shirdi in western Maharashtra. The religious place, popularly known as the Shani Shingnapur temple, had been in news two years ago when a group of activists launched a campaign to allow women to enter the sanctum sanctorum, breaking the tradition of allowing entry only to men.

The temple trustees later decided to facilitate unrestricted entry of women into the temple, following a directive of the Bombay High Court. In another decision, the cabinet approved a proposal to link 145 agriculture produce market committees (APMCs) to the eNAM, the portal of the National Agriculture Market.