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A Village Burnt Overnight: Tears, Loss and Survival in Dhamangaon Blaze

  Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...

Co-operative sector of Vidarbha to get seperate plan soon


Harshavardhan Patil

  • Investigation into sale and purchase of two sugar factories under way, says Co-operation Minister Harshvardhan Patil 


By Dheeraj Fartode
Maharashtra Government is thinking seriously over revival and strengthening of co-operative sector in Vidarbha region. Co-operation Minister Harshvardhan Patil told reporters on Thursday that a separate plan for boosting co-operative sector in the region was being prepared.

“Within a fortnight, the plan will be ready. After scrutiny, it will be placed before the State Cabinet for consideration,” Patil said. Following due procedure, policy decision would be taken regarding future of sugar factories, ginning and pressing mills, and dairies in Vidarbha, he added. Replying to a question, he said that investigation into sale and purchase of two sugar factories in Vidarbha was under way.

Reiterating the commitment of Democratic Front (DF) Government towards strengthening of co-operative sector in Vidarbha, Patil said that leaders from the region also should think as to why did not the co-operative movement take deep roots here. “The leaders from the region should participate in the movement as it is not the job of any one person,” he said.

On the implementation of 97th Constitutional Amendment pertaining to the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, the minister said that he was addressing ‘Sahakar  Melava’ (co-operation meet) in each district of the State in this regard. On Friday, he will address ‘Sahakar Melava’ in Chandrapur.

The amendment would help check corruption in the sector, added Patil. Under the law, only 21 persons would be appointed to the Board of Directors in every co-operative society. Election of co-operative society will be held after a span of five years and training will be compulsory for directors. There are a total 2.27 lakh co-operative societies in the State, with deposit of Rs 4 lakh crore, and turnover of Rs 6 lakh crore. A total of 5.5 crore residents of Maharashtra are members of co-operative institutions, he added.

“The movement is growing fast but some persons are targeting it and trying to discredit it,” said Patil. Refuting allegations of corruption in co-operative sector, he said that not all the societies were corrupt. On crop loan distribution, Patil said that Union Government had approved credit plan of Rs 1 lakh crore and State Government had decided to distribute loan worth Rs 35,000 crore. The State has adopted a policy under which crop loan will be provided with zero per cent interest and only three per cent interest would be charged on loan of Rs 3 lakh.

Asked about aid to Nagpur District Central Co-Operative Bank (NDCCB), Patil told reporters that the bank had got aid to the tune of Rs 75 crore from the State Government.

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