Munde mobbed, Govt flayed

KOLHAPUR, Jan 10: Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, an RSS outfit, today gheraoed Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde...

KOLHAPUR, Jan 10: Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, an RSS outfit, today gheraoed Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde and shouted anti-alliance government slogans claiming that the ruling saffron alliance had failed to solve the issue of junior college teachers strike.

The incident at Gandhi Maidan in the city where Munde, accompanied by State Minister for technical education Datta Rane, was about to inaugurate the eleventh biennial conference of technical employees of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board.

A visibly irked Munde however replied them in a firm manner that State Government will not discuss the demands of junior college teachers till they withdrew their strike. 8220;We also care about students and will hold exams on time. But we will hold discussions with teachers till the strike is withdrawn. Tension escalated, it seemed for a moment as the ABVP activists shouted in protest of Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government. However all the activists were taken to a side by the police.

Meanwhile, addressing the rally Munde assured the technical employees of the MSEB that privatisation of the board will not take place without taking them into confidence.

8220;World Bank authorities denied us the loan over the same issue. We told them that though we agreed in principle over privatisation, its practical application will not take place unless a study is carried out. Consequently we were denied the loan,8221; he said.

He also informed that a feasibility survey of privatising the power distribution in Navi Mumbai had been carried out. 8220;It will be done jointly by BSES Bombay Suburban Electric Supply, TATAs and the MSEB.8221;

As many as 14,000 new transformers will be erected by using Rs 500 crore which were generated by floating bonds, he said expressing confidence that if MSEB decided to come out with another issue of bonds, they will be oversubscribed. Power generation in the State till 1995 was restricted to 11,500 MW, however our government has taken lot of efforts to double this figure as nearly 22,000 MW of power will be available by the year 2002, he said.