Minister suggests to rope in private agency to maintain Vande Mataram Hall

- Department of Higher and Technical Education handed over the responsibility of the hall to the divisional commissioner.

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad: The state’s Higher and Technical Education minister Chandrakant Patil recommended outsourcing the upkeep and maintenance of the Vande Mataram Hall (Sabhagruh) to a private partner instead of keeping its custodianship with the government.

“ Any newly built auditorium and flyover should be inaugurated immediately at the hands of the senior citizens. The Department of Higher and Technical Education has given the responsibility of the hall to the divisional commissioner. Instead, it should be given to a private agency. If the infrastructure is kept with the government then its doors and windows would start to be stolen. The auditorium should be a centre-place of the movement and its awareness. Hence if you are spending Rs 25,000 on other programmes then donate Rs 1,000 for the movement as well,” said Chandrakant Patil.

The minister was speaking at the function to dedicate the hall and inaugurate the workshop on the new National Education Policy on Friday. The state’s cooperative minister Atul Save, leader of opposition in Legislative Council Ambadas Danve, MLAs Haribhau Bagade, Pradeep Jaiswal, Udaysingh Rajput, principal secretary (Higher and Technical Education) Vikas Chandra Rastogi, vice-chancellor (Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University) Dr Pramod Yeole, vice-chancellor (Maharashtra National Law University), Dr KVS Sarma, district collector Astik Kumar Pandey, police commissioner Nikhil Gupta, superintendent of police (SP) Manish Kalwaniya, Cidco chief administrator Deepa Mundhe-Mudhol, director of Higher Education Dr Shailendra Deolankar, director of Technical Education Abhay Wagh, joint director Satish Deshpande, Umesh Nagdeve, Zilla Parishad chief executive officer Vikas Meena and many other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

“The cost of the auditorium escalated from its initial cost of Rs 84 lakh to Rs 43 crore. Henceforth, care should be taken so that the government money is not get wasted due to the delay in the completion of the project,” stressed Patil.

Bagade drew attention towards the need of maintaining the martyrs' memorials built in the villages on regular basis. Rastogi made an introductory speech and Deshpande proposed a vote of thanks.

Privatisation of the project

The then-president of India Gyani Zail Singh performed the ‘bhoomipujan’ of the hall on December 18, 1984, and it took 38 long years to construct it. A total of 34 agitations took place and many cases were registered against the agitators. The hall has been built by the Cidco and is looked after by the Department of Higher Education. Earlier, one auditorium was built and handed it over to the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), but today it is in closed condition.

Danve said that the Marathwada Mukti Sangram was celebrated at a grand level in Telangana. Hence a special package should be granted to undertake such celebrations in Marathwada during the whole year. Besides, instead of a private agency, an independent system should be set up for the upkeep of the hall.

Shinde group MLAs, guardian minister absent

It took 20 long years in selecting the appropriate place for the construction of the hall. Many mahurats also got missed to dedicate it. At last, it has been inaugurated at the hands of minister Patil, said minister Save.

It may be noted that barring MLA Jaiswal, all the MLAs, ministers and the guardian minister of the Shinde group remained absent on the occasion. On the other hand, the BJP office-bearers were honoured by making their seating arrangements on the stage.