Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Harshwardhan Sapkal alleged here on Friday that the Fadnavis government has piled up a mountain of debt on the state, and its budget, with a deficit of approximately Rs 40,000 crore, is driving Maharashtra towards bankruptcy.
Ridiculing the Maharashtra state budget presented by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Sapkal said, “The entire budget is full of big figures and empty promises. The budget is dominated by bullet trains, metros and underground routes, while the poor, tribals, labourers, women, the unemployed and youth living in villages find no place in it. Overall, this budget is geared towards a few cities and select industrialists. The general public will not benefit from it.”
Commenting on the budget here on Friday, Sapkal told media persons that the vision of a so-called “Developed Maharashtra 2047” and a $1-trillion economy are “mere pipe dreams”. “For the past few years, the BJP-led government has made lofty claims in its budget, only to later present supplementary demands worth crores of rupees in every assembly session. The Economic Survey Report clearly shows that the state’s financial situation is steadily deteriorating,” Sapkal said.
“The state is burdened with approximately Rs 12 lakh crore in debt and loan guarantees. Besides, Rs 65,000 crore has to be spent every year only on repaying debt instalments. This clearly demonstrates the vast discrepancy between budget figures and the actual situation on the ground.”
“In the previous budget, Rs 22,658 crore was allocated for Scheduled Caste schemes, but only Rs 6,200 crore was actually spent. Even for backward classes, minorities and tribal communities, budgets announce lofty figures, but actual expenditures remain elusive,” Sapkal said.
“The state’s biggest crisis is unemployment. Yet the budget announced recruitment for only 75,000 government jobs. Given the BJP government’s previous mega recruitment experience, this announcement appears to be just another empty promise. It’s been stated that the ‘Laadki Bahin’ scheme won’t be discontinued, but the promise of Rs 2,100 crore remains in the air, clearly demonstrating that the government has betrayed women once again,” Sapkal said.
“The government has announced loan waivers, but millions of farmers are still deprived of benefits under the loan waiver schemes announced previously. Therefore, it’s a matter of concern that the new loan waiver announcement might prove to be another fraud on farmers. The government’s attitude is like a false invitation to a feast that was never organised. Don’t believe it until you get any food,” Sapkal said.
“Some announcements have been made for agriculture and farmers, but after the trade agreement with the United States, it may become far more difficult for Indian farmers to get a fair price for their produce. Farmers’ incomes are more at risk of decreasing than increasing. Even the measures announced in the budget are not enough to stop farmers’ suicides,” Sapkal said.
“Despite good rainfall last year, the state’s irrigated area has actually declined from 5.6 million hectares to 3.9 million hectares. The amount of cultivable land has also declined. This clearly demonstrates that the government has completely abandoned farmers,” Sapkal said.
“Projects like the Third Mumbai, Fourth Mumbai, Shaktipeeth Highway and the Vadhvan Port are being built purely in the interest of large industrial conglomerates like Adani and Ambani. These will not directly benefit the general public,” Sapkal said.
“The government’s solar energy policy is also misleading. Instead of providing relief to electricity consumers, it will impose an additional burden of 26 paise per unit on them. Smart meters have already led to a significant increase in electricity bills,” Sapkal said.
“The government claimed that investment agreements worth Rs 50-lakh crore were signed at the Davos Summit between 2022 and 2025, but according to the Economic Survey Report, only Rs 6 lakh crore has actually come to the state. This clearly demonstrates a significant gap between the government’s claims and actual reality,” Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Harshwardhan Sapkal said.