The 11-member expert committee, comprising serving and retired bureaucrats, will miss the April 30 deadline to submit a report on the revival of Maharashtra economy badly affected by the coronavirus crisis. The committee was formed on April 13 with a mandate to suggest a slew of recommendations to keep the economy rolling.
A committee member told FPJ, “The committee has, so far, held more than seven meetings and deliberated on the issues arisen because of the coronavirus crisis and the measures to kick start the economic activities in the state. Members have made valuable suggestions for short, medium and long terms to improve the finances.’’ He informed that the committee won’t meet on Wednesday and Thursday, as Mantralaya is closed for fumigation. Therefore, it may submit its report early next week to the state government.
The committee had made a strong case for lifting the lockdown barring five hotspots and containment zones. The committee had recommended that the government should immediately approach the centre or Reserve Bank of India with a plea to provide liquidity of Rs 50,000 crore and, subsequently, raise a debt of Rs 60,000 crore to make up the revenue shortfall of Rs 1 lakh crore.
Further, it suggested that the government needs to approach the RBI with a plea for providing means in advance. In view of the lockdown, there has been practically no revenue mobilisation and there will be at least 30 per cent cut in revenue receipts and 40 per cent fall in the GST collection in 2020-21.
The committee insisted that the government will have to make more allocation on the health sector and social security apart from day to day government functioning. According to the committee, the state government will have to facilitate smooth movement of trucks to transport kharif inputs for farmers.
