MUMBAI: Maharashtra Legislative Assembly speaker Harbhau Bagde faced an unusual request on Monday when some of the MLAs urged him to let them stay and sleep in the Assembly House claiming their lives are in danger in the MLA hostels.The members wanted to raise the issue of sorry state of affairs of the MLA hostels after a part of a false ceiling in one of the rooms at Manora, the MLAs hostel at Nariman Point in South Mumbai, caved in.
The room, where the false ceiling had caved in, was occupied by NCP MLA Satish Patil of Erandol of Jalgaon district. The roof had apparently collapsed on Sunday in his absence.
Leader of Opposition in Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil (Congress) and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar of NCP raised the issue - prompting a reply from Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“We have taken the issue seriously,” Fadnavis said, adding that a meeting has already been convened to discuss the issue. “We would look at various options including repairs and also if we can shift MLAs elsewhere,” he said, adding that the government may also consider providing MLAs monthly rent allowance if they don’t want government accommodation.Out of 366 legislators of Maharashtra, 158 have rooms allotted at Manora. .