Maharashtra budget session: Rs 8.6K cr in extra funds demanded on Day 1

Opposition leaders on Monday stage a protest on the stairs of Vidhan Bhavan seeking reservations for the Maratha community. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The state government tabled supplementary demands worth Rs 8,609 crore, including Rs 1,438.78 crore for the repayment of outstanding loans related to Mumbai Metro Line 3, Nagpur Metro and Pune Metro, on the opening day of the budget session on Monday. These are additional funds sought by the government over the budgetary allocation for 2023-24.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and state finance minister Ajit Pawar tabled the supplementary demands, followed by the council. The government tabled supplementary demands worth Rs 55,520.77 crore in the winter session last year.

Nana Patole, State Congress president

According to a note circulated by the finance department, out of Rs 8,609 crore, Rs 5,665 crore was for commuted expenditure, Rs 2,944 crore for plan expenditure and Rs 17,000 for the state's contribution towards various Central government schemes.

Supplementary demands worth Rs 2,210 crore were related to financial assistance to farmers whose crops were destroyed due to unseasonal showers, hailstorms and water scarcity; demands worth Rs 2,031 crore were for subsidy to customers related to agricultural pumps, loom machines and the textile industry; while demands worth Rs 2,019 crore were for loans under the urban Infrastructure development fund.

Ajit Pawar will present an interim budget for the year 2024-25 on Tuesday at 2 pm. There isn't a full budget due to the assembly election this year.

Oppostion protest

Meanwhile, on the first day of the session, the Opposition staged a protest on the legislature's steps before the proceedings began. Opposition MLAs Balasaheb Thorat, Nitin Raut, Amin Patel, Amit Deshmukh, Dheeraj Deshmukh, Jitesh Antapurkar, Bhai Jagtap, Rajesh Rathod, Ajay Chaudhary, Rajan Salvi, Narendra Darade, Anil Deshmukh, Sunil Bhusara and Vinod Nikole were some of the legislators who protested. The MLAs left the area holding placards bearing slogans that claimed the government had cheated the Maratha and OBC communities on the issue of reservation.

State Congress president Nana Patole said that people in the government were alleging that the Maratha reservation was not maintained by the MVA government, but when MVA leaders were in the Maratha reservation sub-committee, Eknath Shinde, Ashok Chavan, Ajit Pawar were in power. "If Maratha reservation could not be maintained by the MVA government, aren't these people also responsible?" he said. The Leader of the Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar criticised the government in the assembly for not appreciating the demands of Asha workers, who have been protesting for a pay hike and other pending demands at Azad Maidan.

DCM Ajit Pawar claimed that the government is ready to discuss the matter with the workers. He added that the state government is flexible and ready to hear out
the workers.

Feb 27
Day interim budget will be tabled