Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said the CM Ladli Bahin Yojna is neither populist nor poll-driven and a decision has been taken to implement the scheme in the long term too, keeping in mind the financial impact within the given budget.
Accusing the Opposition of spreading false narratives against the Mahayuti government, Pawar turned the tables and said, “When we announced that we would pay Rs 1,500 per month to women under the scheme, we knew that it would come to Rs 18,000 per woman per year. We are realistic. The Rs 4,600 crore allocated for our scheme is within the budget.”
Pawar criticised the Opposition parties for promising to pay every woman Rs 8,500 per month during the Lok Sabha elections, an amount that was more than even the Maharashtra state budget.
“Maharashtra, with its huge potential and progressive outlook, is poised to achieve the ambitious target of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2028. It is our concerted effort to take it to $3.5 trillion,” Ajit Pawar said on Friday.
“To realise this target, we need to ensure a growth rate of 17-18 per cent. For this, we need to increase capital expenditure and secure additional revenue through various schemes,” he explained.
Pawar promised all-round development and said, “upliftment of the underprivileged, women and farmers are our priority.” As a result, Budget 2024-25 “is a giant step forward towards realising the development goals within the time frame,” he explained.
The finance minister was replying to a debate on the Budget 2024-25 in the Maharashtra Assembly on Friday, where 70 state legislators across party lines took part in the three-day debate.
Refuting the Opposition’s accusation that the Budget was populist and geared towards state elections, Pawar said, “Elections are held every five years. But for us, what matters is the welfare of Maharashtra.”
“The CM Ladki Bahin scheme, under which women between the age of 21 and 65 years will be given a monthly stipend of Rs 1,500, is not a temporary scheme. It will be implemented permanently with a common objective of making women financially independent. The expansion of pink e-rickshaws is another initiative to provide assured employment and security to women district-wise through dedicated funds,” Pawar said, adding that three per cent funds would be reserved under the Women and Child Welfare Department and 500 pink e-rickshaws would be provided per district.
Highlighting on district planning, Ajit Pawar said, “We have increased the allocation for district planning by 20 per cent. A financial resource of Rs 18,165 crore has been earmarked for 2024-25.”
To tackle the unemployment problem, various schemes are being implemented by the skill development, industry and labour departments. The unemployment rate is projected to be 3.7 per cent in 2020-21, 3.5 per cent in 2021-22 and 3.1 per cent in 2022-23.
The annual GSDP at current prices for 2024-25 is projected to grow by 5.53 per cent to Rs 42,67,771 crore as against Rs 40,44,251 crore in 2023-24. Meanwhile, revenue collections are set at Rs 4.99 trillion for 2024-25 as against Rs 4.49 trillion in the previous fiscal. Maharashtra’s share of the country’s total revenue collection is 14 per cent.
Reviewing the financial situation of the state, the Deputy Chief Minister said, “Enhanced allocation from the Central government through GST, VAT and other tax schemes will help in generating additional revenue of Rs 3 trillion to Rs 350 billion on an average.”
For 2024-25, state revenue expenditure is projected to rise by 11.57% to Rs 5.19 trillion. The major chunk of the expenditure will be towards repayment of loans, salaries and pension schemes. The loan component alone accounts for 11.3% of the expenditure, while salaries and pension schemes together account for 58% of the expenditure. The revenue deficit this year is Rs 20,051 trillion against last year’s Rs 16,122 trillion.
While exuding confidence that the government is taking appropriate steps to minimise the revenue deficit, Pawar dismissed opposition attacks on rising debt as unfair given the size and potential of the state budget and spending.
The debt-to-GSDP ratio has increased from 17.26 per cent (2023-24) to 18.35 per cent (2024-25). Pawar, however, said Maharashtra’s Rs 7 trillion debt is within the acceptable range of 25 per cent of GSDP. “What is often overlooked is that huge borrowings are going towards mega infrastructure and welfare projects,” Pawar said.
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