Opposition slams Center’s move to shift textile office; Fadnavis says only some officers being relocated

Mumbai: The Opposition parties have come down heavily on the central government over its plan to shift the office of the textile commissioner from Mumbai to New Delhi.

In its issue dated March 21, Hindustan Times had carried a report on the textile commissioner’s office, which was established in the city in 1943, being shifted to the national Capital.

On Tuesday, the Opposition raised the issue in the assembly. In reply, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that only a few officers were shifted and not the entire office of the textile commissioner.

The Opposition leaders, however, said that the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government had failed to stop Centre’s attempts to undermine the importance of Mumbai and Maharashtra.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator and party stat president Jayant Patil said that attempts to undermine Maharashtra and Mumbai must be thwarted.

State Congress chief Nana Patole said, “Many industries are going to Gujarat after the new government has come to power. Now, the textile commissioner’s office is being shifted to Delhi. They are on a path to destroy the state and finish us.”

He added that Mumbai is the financial capital of the country and an important international city. “Investments are coming from all over the world keeping in mind the infrastructure in Mumbai and Maharashtra, and the favourable environment here. Industrially, Maharashtra has always been at the forefront of the country. The BJP has been trying to reduce the importance of Mumbai and Maharashtra for the past few years.”

Several big projects such as Vedanta-Foxconn, Bulk Drug Park, Medical Device Park and now Tata Airbus moved out of the state. “Important offices and projects in Mumbai and the state have been shifted out of the state at the behest of Delhi. Since Mumbai cannot be taken to Gujarat, it is BJP’s plan to destroy it,” Patole said.

NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad said, “The textile commissionerate is in Mumbai since 1943 and now a letter has come that the office was being shifted to Delhi. Their (BJP) conscience is not clear.’’

Replying to this, Fadnavis said that there is no attempt to shift the commissionerate to Delhi. He said that the commissioner and five officers have been called to Delhi. It is a part of strengthening the textile department. There are 500 employees working here. Hence it is wrong to say that the entire commissionerate was being shifted to Delhi.

Meanwhile, MPCC general secretary Sachin Sawant tweeted that shifting of commissionerate shows the hatred in the mind of the government towards Maharashtra. “Isn’t this an act against Maharashtra. Maharashtra is the engine of the country in the financial world. This is an attempt to undermine and suppress 12 crore Maharashtrians,’’ he conveyed in the tweet.

The office of the textile commissioner was established in 1943 during the Second World War period for arranging the supply of cloth to the defence forces as well as civilian population. After the end of World War II, the Textile Commissioner was given the regulatory function of administering the prices, distribution and control of certain varieties of cloth meant for civilian consumption in the post-war conditions of scarcity. However, after Independence this office has assumed a developmental role and has contributed towards modernization and holistic all-round growth of all segments of the textiles and clothing industry. The Textile Commissioner acts as the principal technical advisor to the Ministry of Textiles and carries out techno-economic surveys and advises the government on the general economic health of the textiles industry through its eight Regional Offices at Amritsar, Noida, Indore, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Navi Mumbai and Ahmedabad.