Pune needs focus on water, roads, schools and health along with big projects: Amol Balwadkar
NCP corporator Amol Balwadkar says basic civic services must get more attention alongside large infrastructure projects, and raised concerns on schools, RTE admissions, accident compensation and hospitals.
Nationalist Congress Party corporator Amol Balwadkar on Thursday set out his views on the development of Pune, saying that while deciding the city's priorities, more attention should go to basic services such as health, education, drinking water, roads and drainage, along with large infrastructure projects.
He said big projects such as the river improvement project, flyovers, the ring road and the Metro would move forward at the senior level. However, he said, solving the problems citizens face every day should be the first task of local representatives.
On the civic body's education system, Balwadkar said painting school buildings or installing digital boards and screens does not amount to good education. Municipal schools should be given the necessary staff and basic facilities, he said. He alleged that schools are being handed over to various organisations to run, leading to the privatisation of education.
Saying parents face difficulties in the RTE admission process, he alleged that money is demanded by pointing to errors in location or documents. He demanded an independent inquiry into these allegations and action against those found guilty. He noted that the RTE provides free education up to Class 8, but rising fees for Classes 9 and 10 are making it hard for students from economically weaker families, especially girls, to continue their studies.
Potholes, open drainage lines, manholes, electric poles or dangerous tree branches cause accidents, and citizens suffer financial as well as physical harm, he said. The civic body's responsibility in such incidents should be fixed, Balwadkar said. He cited an accident in Khadki, in which a bus ran over a cyclist's hand. Treatment was estimated to cost about Rs 12 lakh, but the hand finally had to be amputated for want of money, he said.
He said the authorities concerned should immediately help people get insurance claims in such cases. He said he has moved a proposal for compensation of Rs 5 lakh for those injured in accidents and Rs 10 lakh for the heirs of those killed. He also demanded that a separate nodal officer be appointed for insurance claims in accidents involving PMPML or civic body vehicles.
On the health system, he said the load on Pune's municipal hospitals is growing. A few hospitals, such as Sassoon and Kamala Nehru, bear a heavy burden of patient care. Saying that a separate, modern maternity hospital is needed for ordinary women, he pointed to the rising cost of childbirth in private hospitals. He also claimed that facilities in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) are inadequate.
He was asked why an aggressive stand is taken in the civic body when the Mahayuti government is in power in the state. Balwadkar replied that raising people's issues in the House is the duty of an opposition party. If questions are asked about wrong decisions, they should not be brushed aside by citing the political alliance, he said.
Asked about his ward's funds being withheld, he said he has held discussions with Sunetra Pawar, wife of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. He noted that he has been assured of funds and that it has been decided to resolve the matter after speaking to Chandrakant Patil. Though there is coordination within the Mahayuti, party workers have political ambitions at the local level, he also said. He made clear that he is ready to contest the Kothrud Assembly constituency.
