Under Eknath Shinde, CM's Relief Fund struggles to keep pace; received Rs 65.88 cr in contributions so far

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde; Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis; Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray

Compared to his predecessors, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has been an underperformer in attracting funds for the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. This year, CM Shinde has received only Rs 65.88 crore in contributions for the CM's Relief Fund. Shinde's predecessors, Uddhav Thackeray and Devendra Fadnavis, had significantly increased the CM's Relief Fund during their tenures, revealed the information provided by CM's secretariat to RTI activist Anil Galgali.

In response to the RTI information sought by Galgali, Sanjay Tambe, assistant accounts officer, CM's secretariat revealed that the balance as of April 1, 2022 is Rs 418.88 crore and the balance as of March 31, 2023, is Rs 445.22 crore. The CM's Relief Fund year-wise donation information is available from January 1, 2015 to March 31, 2023. "CM Shinde appears to be lagging behind on the front of CM's Relief Fund in comparison to Fadnavis and Thackeray during their term as CM," said Galgali.

Fadnavis boosted CM's Relief Fund by R614 crore in five years while as CM, Thackeray increased the fund by Rs 793 crore in two years. Whereas Shinde could only increase the fund by Rs 65.88 crore since he took over as chief minister on June 30, 2023. "Fadnavis has been the top performer among all the three CMs in helping the needy in the last eight years. Out of the 1.07 lakh applicants seeking aid from CM's Relief Fund, 63,573 citizens were given assistance that totalled Rs 598.32 crore.

During his tenure as CM, Thackeray helped 4,247 citizens out of 10,712 applicants which added up to R20.28 crore while now with Shinde at the helm of affairs, the Chief Minister's Relief Fund has disbursed Rs 57 crore to the 7,419 citizens out of 14,566 applications it received," said Galgali. He said appointing a dynamic and responsible IAS officer in the Chief Minister's Relief Fund Cell will boost the fund disbursement and disclosing the beneficiaries will increase transparency.

Rs 65.88 cr
Amt added to fund under CM Shinde