Maharashtra budget all-inclusive, growth good considering previous years' figures: Devendra Fadnavis

Devendra Fadnavis. File Pic

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said the state budget presented by him for 2023-24 was all-inclusive with provisions for the welfare of farmers, women as well as infrastructure development.

The state's economic growth rate of 6.8 percent this fiscal was good in light of the previous two-three years, said Fadnavis, who holds the finance portfolio, while replying to the debate on budget in the Legislative Assembly.

"In 2020-21, it (growth rate) was negative 7.2 percent, in 2021-22 it was 9.1 percent and 6.8 percent in 2022-23," he said.

The fiscal deficit was within limit, Fadnavis added.

He will table an action-taken-report on the budget in 2024 before presenting the next budget, he said.

He highlighted the Namo Shetkari Sanman scheme introduced by the budget under which farmers will get Rs 6,000 in addition to the Rs 6,000 given by the central government.

"When farmers lose their crop to unseasonal rains and hailstorm, Rs 12,000 will come in handy for re-sowing," Fadnavis said, adding that "at least a start has been made (regarding giving aid to farmers)."

He also spoke about schemes such as incentives on the birth of a girl child and increase in the health insurance cover under the Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya scheme from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

The previous Maha Viksas Aghadi (MVA) government of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress did not fulfil any of the assurances in its common minimum program, Fadnavis claimed.

It was the present government which fulfilled the promise made by the MVA to start Rupee 1 clinics and give incentives to farmers who regularly repay crop loans, he said.

Construction of the memorial of Dr B R Ambedkar in Mumbai will be completed by 2025 while adequate funds have been provided for the memorial of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray, he noted.

Even though the Shiv Sena was the largest group in the MVA, the departments controlled by its ministers got only 15 percent of the budget allocations, Fadnavis claimed.

On the other hand, in the present government the departments controlled by the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde have got 34 percent allocations, he said.

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Referring to the ongoing agitation of government employees seeking restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), Fadnavis said the old scheme was scrapped on October 31, 2005, when late Vilasrao Deshmukh (of Congress) was the chief minister and Jayant Patil (present state NCP chief) was the finance minister.

Government employees should get adequate pension benefits, and a committee of three retired senior officials -- Subodh Kumar, Sudhir Shrivastava and K P Bakshi -- has been formed to study the issue, he said.

The opposition should urge the striking employees to withdraw the strike, Fadnavis said.

During the present government's tenure, a coach factory came up in Latur where the coaches of Vande Bharat trains are being manufactured, he pointed out.

The state has requested the Union government to include Marathwada water grid in the Jal Jeevan mission, he said, adding that had the MVA government sent this proposal, the funds would have been released by now.

The budget is a "control-alt-shift budget" and not a "copy-paste-edit" one as alleged by the opposition, he said.

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