Over 200 announcements, Rs 1 lakh crore annual expense: Maharashtra pre-poll spree

* The schemes

The Ladki Bahin Yojana was announced successful the Budget presented connected June 28, with the authorities promising to deposit Rs 1,500 monthly into the accounts of women betwixt the ages of 21 and 65 and beneath poorness enactment successful the state. The Mahayuti authorities claims to person enrolled 2.35 crore women for the strategy truthful far. The conjugation believes it to beryllium its flagship scheme, with each its 3 partners flagging the aforesaid successful their campaigns.

In the aforesaid Budget, the authorities announced different schemes aimed astatine women, including escaped higher acquisition and 3 escaped cylinders for those beneath poorness line. It besides unveiled the Mukhya Mantri Baliraj Vij Yojana, nether which it bears the load of energy bills of farmers and provides them escaped energy for usage of cultivation pumps up to 7.5 equine powerfulness capacity. Around 44.06 lakh farmers are covered by this scheme.

On September 23, a Cabinet gathering announced a ‘Parshuram Financial Development Corporation’ for underprivileged students from the Brahmin community, with a corpus money of Rs 50 crore. At the aforesaid meeting, the Cabinet announced doubling of the remuneration of sarpanchs and lawman sarpanchs.

On September 30, the authorities said it was accepting the 2nd and 3rd study of the committee connected finalising the protocol for issuing Kunbi-Maratha and Maratha-Kunbi certificates based connected humanities records. The aforesaid day, it besides accepted the revised connection of Rs 12,200 crore for the Thane Ring Metro Project, cleared a connection to rise Rs 15,000 crore done loans for the Thane-Borivali passageway route; and approved Rs 1,354 crore arsenic indebtedness without involvement for the operation of a passageway from Orange Gate to Marine Drive successful Mumbai.

Besides, the Cabinet gathering that time saw adjacent doubling of the regular allowance to homeguards, who fig astir 40,000 successful the state, from Rs 570 to Rs 1,083 per day. And the instauration of 4,860 posts of peculiar acquisition teachers, and regularisation of implicit 2,900 contractual peculiar educators. Besides, the authorities said, the desi breed of cows would hence connected beryllium considered ‘Rajya Matas’, and determination would beryllium allocation of Rs 50 per desi cattle per time to gaushalas.

On October 10, the Mahayuti authorities recommended raising the yearly income bounds to suffice arsenic a ‘non-creamy layer’ from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, and expanding the monthly wage of madrasa teachers.

On October 11, the Cabinet approved Rs 20,375.21 crore for the operation of the Pune ringing road, arsenic good arsenic approved a Rs 1,781.06 crore connection to physique sports complexes.

Finally, connected October 14, a time up of the announcement of the canvass dates, the authorities said toll taxation for introduction into Mumbai was being waived. The measure, appealing to middle-class voters from Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, whitethorn interaction astir 60 seats successful Mumbai and adjoining districts.

The expenditure

The estimated outgo of the schemes announced successful the run-up to the polls is astir Rs 1 lakh crore annually. Nearly fractional of the expenditure connected the caller schemes, oregon astir Rs 46,000 crore, involves the Ladki Bahin Yojana.

As per the Budget estimates for 2024-25, the full indebtedness banal of the authorities is Rs 7,82,991 crore, oregon 18.35% of the GSDP, continuing a rising inclination successful the past 2 years. In 2023-24, the full indebtedness banal arsenic percent of the GSDP was 17.59%, and successful 2022-23, it was 17.26%.

A elder Finance Department authoritative said that arsenic per the Maharashtra Fiscal Responsibility and Budgetary Management Act, 2005, fiscal shortage should ideally not transcend 3% of the GSDP. In a Cabinet enactment past month, the Finance Department expressed interest that, astatine Rs 1,99,125 crore successful 2024-25, this had gone implicit the mark, “due to further fund and supplementary demands”. The enactment added that “the authorities is facing a batch of fiscal pressure… In specified a situation, the authorities authorities cannot judge further responsibility”.

The government, Opposition

Maharashtra Finance Minister and NCP main Ajit Pawar maintains that the expenditure connected payment schemes volition not weaken the authorities treasury. “Maharashtra’s fiscal concern is robust. We person the highest GST gross from the Centre. I person presented the tenth fund of the state, and determination is nary crushed to worry,” helium stated successful Pune a week earlier the announcement of elections.

However, his ain Finance Department had astir the aforesaid clip raised objections to an summation successful allocation for gathering sports complexes successful the state, citing “financial pressure” connected the state, including owed to the announcement of caller schemes. The Cabinet enactment mentioned supra reflected the Finance Department’s concerns successful this regard.

Speaking astatine an lawsuit successful Nagpur successful the days starring up to the canvass announcement, elder BJP person and Union curate Nitin Gadkari had raised the fiscal load connected the Maharashtra government, specifically connected relationship of the Ladki Bahin Yojana, saying: “There is perfectly nary certainty whether investors volition person their subsidy outgo connected time. As it is, the authorities has to supply immense funds for the Ladki Bahin Yojana.”

Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said the Mahayuti government’s spree of promises would not fool the people, arsenic they realised that these decisions were poll-driven. “Every authorities tries to travel up with schemes and benefits for voters up of elections. The lone crushed that the Ladki Bahin strategy was announced aft the Lok Sabha canvass results was that the authorities was acrophobic of people’s choler and knew that they were going to suffer the Assembly polls,” helium said.