Opposition walks out of Maharashtra Council, accuses govt of not allowing them to speak

The opposition legislators walked out of the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Monday after accusing the ruling alliance of not allowing them to speak in the HouseNationalist Congress Party MLC Eknath Khadse told the House that a state minister was present in the wedding of a family allegedly linked to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and sought a SIT probe newswire PTI reportedReplying to the allegations Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the minister had attended the wedding of a Muslim religious leader in NashikThis religious leader or his kin have no link with Ibrahim and the Opposition must apologise for levelling such allegations Fadnavis saidSoon after Leader of Opposition in the Council Ambadas Danve and other MLC protested and shouted slogans leading to the House being adjourned for 10 minutesAfter it resumed Danve said the opposition MLCs were not being allowed to speak and they walked out from the CouncilEarlier Council Deputy Chairperson Neelam Gorhe asked that the name of the minister be removed from the proceedings She also rejected the Oppositions demand for a discussion on the issue under Rule 289Day after blast opposition alleges safety lapses at Nagpur factory exploitation of workersAlso read CM Shinde directs rehabilitation security measures in naxalaffected areas of GadchiroliEarlier in the day opposition legislators alleged lapses by Solar Industries India where a blast claimed nine lives a day before in ensuring the safety of workers and demanded action against Industrial Safety Department officialsRaising the issue in the Legislative Council they also said workers at the factory have been exploited for long and not paid minimum wages as per normsA Congress MLC said similar incidents had happened in the company in the past while opposition leader Ambadas Danve Shiv SenaUBT said mandatory safety drills were not conductedDanve demanded a report from the Nagpur district collector to fix accountability and demanded action against officials concerned from the Industrial Safety DepartmentNine people were killed and three others seriously injured in a massive blast at the explosives manufacturing factory in Chakdoh in Nagpur district on SundayCongress MLC Shashikant Shinde moved a point of information in the legislative council where he spoke about the safety record of the factoryThis isnt the first time that an explosion occurred in the company There were two such incidents in the past Shinde saidReferring to the Rs 20 lakh compensation announced by the company to the victims and Rs 5 lakh by the state government Shinde wondered whether the government is placing a monetary value on the lives of innocent peopleAround 4000 workers are employed on a daily wage basis in the company on a meagre Rs 10000 per month he said and demanded permanent employment for themDanve who visited the blast site said the bodies of the deceased were dismemberedMandatory safety drills had not been conducted at the company and even officials from the industrial safety department were denied access to the premises he saidDanve said workers at the factory were forced into early morning shifts after working late the previous nightAnother Congress MLC Bhai Jagtap said while the minimum wage is Rs 12000 in Maharashtra the company was paying only Rs 10500 per month to the workersHe demanded that the services of workers be regularisedCouncil chairperson Neelam Gorhe said the matter would be discussed on Tuesday under section 97 of the rulesA day before Solar Industries India senior general manager Ashish Srivastava had said that the incident occurred in the building where boosters used in coal mines are produced It took place when sealing work of the product was going onPolice have registered a case against unidentified persons in connection with the blast under the Indian Penal Code on the charges of causing death by negligence and negligent conduct with respect to the explosive substance an official said on Monday With inputs from agencies