Building Pune: PMC to double compensation value of property being acquired for Phule couple memorial

He noted that the PMC will repay the income tax that the PAP will have to pay for accepting the compensation amount.

As per the preliminary calculation of compensation, an amount of Rs 105.5 crore needs to be given to the affected families, said Vasundhara Barwe, Deputy Municipal Commissioner. These huts will be rehabilitated under the slum rehabilitation scheme.

In January 2025, the Maharashtra Government sanctioned funds worth Rs 200 crore for the project.

“The civic administration has reached out to each of the project-affected people (PAP) for the proposed integration of Phule Wada and the memorial of Savitribai Phule in Mahatma Phule Peth. The community demands to get rehabilitated in the vicinity, as they wish to work for their livelihood in the same area. However, there is no residential property or open land owned by the civic body in the vicinity. So a policy has been framed for rehabilitation of the project-affected people,” said Naval Kishore Ram.

As an alternative, the PMC also plans to give ownership of civic body-owned residential property to the PAP equal to the compensation value for their surrendered property, said the municipal commissioner.

For the tenants occupying the properties to be acquired by PMC, the civic body will give its owned residential properties on rent between Rs 700 and Rs 1,400, or also give permanent accommodation in the residential buildings constructed under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) if they are ready to pay a share of the beneficiary to get ownership under the scheme.

The PMC will also consider the possibility of rehabilitating PAP in residential buildings developed under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) in the vicinity of the project, he said.

On the 125th death anniversary of Savitribai Phule in 2022, the state government announced the development of the memorial project of ‘Phulewada’, the Phule couple’s residence.

The residence of the Phule couple was declared a state heritage structure in 1992 and is under the protection of the Archaeological Department, and listed in Heritage Grade 1.

Phulewada was built in 1852 in Mahatma Phule Peth, where the Phule couple stayed for a certain period. Mahatma Phule worked for the oppressed class of society, and he, along with his wife Savitribai, contributed to the education and empowerment of women. They started the first girls’ school in Bhidewada.

Phulewada is now converted into a museum, and there are busts of Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule in the courtyard. The area also has a well, which Phule had opened for the untouchables who were not permitted to use public wells.

The PMC has developed a memorial of Savitribai Phule, 150 metres from Phulewada. The facility comprises an auditorium, library, and a child care centre on PMC-owned land, which is reserved as a ‘public and semi-public area’.

It has been decided to connect Phulewada and the Savitribai Phule memorial to carry out the expansion and develop a monument of the Phule couple in a spacious area.

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