NCP’s Ram-Rahim hall plan hits wall

The NCP proposes to build a community hall,Ram-Rahim,with land from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC),and funds from its members in the upper houses of the state legislature and Parliament.

The civic body standing committee had recently approved the proposal floated by NCP leaders Ashwini Kadam and Shrikant Patil seeking land for the hall. The proposal will now come up for discussion in the general body. In their proposal,NCP corporators had said that the NCP state unit had made a provision of Rs 25 lakh from the development fund of their party legislators for constructing the hall.

As far as land availability is concerned,Kadam says a one-and-a-half acre plot (survey no 46) at Parvati Industrial Estate has been identified for the project and adds that it had been lying vacant for 35 years now.

“The NCP proposal is for a social cause and the civic body should allow construction of the hall so that the land is put to proper use,” she said adding the area has a mix of Hindu and Muslim population.

Kadam stressed that the Ram-Rahim hall was aimed at bringing citizens of both communities together. According to the plan,there would be two halls,Ram and Rahim,on common premises. NCP members in the state legislative council and the Rajya Sabha will reserve 25 per cent of their local area development fund for development work in constituencies that had no party representation in the Assembly or the Lok Sabha and the Ram-Rahim hall would be one such project,according to the party leaders. The party had lost Parvati seat in the last Assembly polls. It is represented by BJP legislator Madhuri Misal.

Bagul says he will oppose the NCP move in the general body meeting. He says,“There is no vacant plot in the area as claimed by the NCP corporator. The area falls in my ward and the PMC cannot go ahead with any such proposal without the consent of the local corporator,” he said adding he has never been approached by anyone on the matter.

“The civic administration never sought a no objection from me for allowing the project in my electoral ward… I have been planning to set up a planetarium in my ward but could not go ahead owing to lack of land for the project,” he said.