MUMBAI: Months ahead of assembly elections, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab submitted a private member’s bill to the legislative council seeking 50% reservation for Marathi-speaking people in new residential buildings in Mumbai. The bill, awaiting the deputy chairperson’s approval for tabling in the House, has pushed for a penalty of Rs 10 lakh and/or a jail term of up to six months on the developer for failing to provide such a quota.
Sena (UBT) has nine legislators in the 78-member council and 15 in the 288-seat assembly.MVA, the opposition bloc, has 75 members in the assembly and 29 in the council, while Mahayuti, the govt alliance, has 212 members in the former and 28 in the latter. The bill may be tabled during the course of the monsoon session of the legislature, which begins on Thursday.
Parab alleged that “multiple instances” of Marathi-speaking people being denied housing under pretext of food preferences or religion had prompted him to submit the bill. “Any discrimination based on religion or food preferences is unconstitutional.” Citing a case from Vile Parle, he said a builder refused to let Marathi people buy homes in a complex on their food preferences. “Marathi people protested, but govt didn’t take cognisance of issue. The developer apologised only after the media highlighted it,” he said, adding that Marathi-speaking people in Mumbai are now outnumbered.
A private member’s bill can be moved by any House member in their personal capacity seeking a new law or tweaks in an existing statute.