Package For Marathwada Is Hollow: Opposition

Mumbai: The opposition slammed the state government for not giving any substantial assistance to the Marathwada region during the state cabinet meeting at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar on Saturday. Leader of opposition in the state legislative council Ambadas Danve too lashed out at the government and said that most of the announcements made in 2023 (i.e. today) are mere repetition of the announcements made in 2016.

Patole: People of Marathwada did not get anything..

While reacting to Friday's cabinet decisions, MPCC president Nana Patole said, “People of Marathwada did not get anything from the cabinet meeting. Although the government has made claims that projects worth Rs59,000 crore have been approved, it is mere jugglery with numbers. We will only know what the government has done once the public gets something in their hands. Hence, at present it is just a 'hollow' package.”

“Marathwada is reeling under severe drought, and the cases of farmer suicides have increased in the region. In such circumstances, it was essential to declare a drought, but by not declaring a drought, the government has played a cruel joke on the public,” leader of opposition in the state legislative assembly Vijay Wadettiwar said. He also added that the MahaYuti government is just repackaging the MVA decisions for the region.“In the Beed district alone, which is the constituency of the agriculture minister, 168 farmers have committed suicide in the last two months. Other districts are also facing similar situations, but the government hasn't announced any remedial plan. Youth from Marathwada are migrating to cities like Mumbai and Pune in large numbers seeking job, but the government hasn't declared a concrete plan for their employment. It is the misfortune of the region that despite holding a cabinet meeting there, they haven't got anything from the government,” Patole added while endorsing points raised by Wadettiwar.

"In 2016, the then Fadnavis government had announced a package of Rs40,000 crore to the Marathwada regions. This time it was raised to Rs45,000 crore and an additional package for the river linking project was added to it which makes the whole package to be of Rs59,000 crore. But, apart from that there is nothing concrete in the package. There are no progressive provisions for the farmers in it,” Danve said.