With elections around the corner, Nitin Gadkari calls for locals to get preferences in jobs in Maharashtra

Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday, February 6, locals should get preference in jobs, adding a strong legislation will be enacted for this purpose if needed.

He was speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Nagpur.

"Bhumiputras (sons of soil) should get employment in the projects here at MIHAN (Multi-modal International Hub Airport)," the Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping said.

Gadkari said at least 1.25 lakh jobs will be created through the development of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) near Mumbai in the next few years.

"I have given directions (to authorities) to ensure that at least 80% of these jobs in the JNPT be given to locals from the coastal Konkan region," he said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, speaking at the event, said during the Congress-NCP Democratic Front government, projects used to commence 10 years after their announcement.

Fadnavis said the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd under which MIHAN falls, has done an important job for the project-affected persons.

"Many a time, people whose land we acquire are left out of the development process. This is not the case here (in MIHAN) and all development is being done by taking along sons of the soil here.

"This is our model of inclusive growth in which the last man standing is the part of development," he said.