Reserve 50% homes in new projects in Mumbai for Marathi speakers: Sena (UBT) leader

Anil Parab, a multiple-time MLC who is now contesting the June 26 Legislative Council elections from the Mumbai graduates constituency, said Marathi-speaking people are being denied homes in the financial capital, forcing them to shift out of the city.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab on Monday demanded that 50 per cent homes in new residential projects in Mumbai be reserved for Marathi-speaking people, whose number he claimed, is declining in the metropolis.

Addressing a press conference here, Parab, a multiple-time MLC who is now contesting the June 26 Legislative Council elections from the Mumbai graduates constituency, said Marathi-speaking people are being denied homes in the financial capital, forcing them to shift out of the city.

The former state minister claimed the population of Marathi speakers in Mumbai was declining.

"There should be a 50 per cent reservation for them in new residential projects," he said and pushed for enactment of a law in this regard.

Marathi speakers should get affordable houses in Mumbai, Parab asserted.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said last year he had submitted a non-official bill in the Legislative Council as an opposition member, seeking a 50 per cent reservation for them in new residential projects.

The bill is likely to come up for discussion in the Upper House of the legislature in the monsoon session starting on June 27, he said.

Parab maintained that besides large houses, smaller apartments measuring up to 500 square feet should be constructed as well by realtors so that Marathi-speaking people can afford to buy them.