"Turned Crisis Into Opportunity": Maharashtra Chief Minister On 2 Years In Office

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today said most part of his government's two-year tenure was spent on COVID-19 management and that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) succeeded in turning the crisis into an opportunity.

In a statement to mark the completion of his two years in office, Mr Thackeray, 61, who is recuperating in a private hospital after a spine surgery, thanked the people for supporting his government in all its endeavours and said it is the "people's government".

"We did not panic during man-made and natural calamities and our focus remained on the welfare of the common man. Most part of the last two years went in COVID-19 management. We succeeded in turning the crisis into an opportunity," the chief minister said.

There is a vast difference between health, medical facilities and infrastructure that existed two years ago and now, he claimed.

After the Maharashtra Assembly polls in 2019, the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena parted ways with long-term ally BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post. It then forged an alliance with the NCP and the Congress to form the MVA government.

Mr Thackeray said there was no negativity in his government and the administration while tackling the pandemic.

"We have worked hard in improving the industrial investment, agriculture infrastructure, housing, employment, water supply, solar energy, environment, tourism, forest and the focus has been on how the government's efforts will ensure welfare of the common man,'' he said.

Under the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule farm loan waiver scheme, debts of cultivators to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore have been waived off, the chief minister said.

The state government has provided Rs 2,600 crore to hospitals and 14.4 lakh people have been treated free of cost under the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Scheme, he added.

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