Mumbai: To keep the legislators from the ruling and opposition parties in good humour, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced a hike in the legislators’ development fund to Rs 5 crore from Rs 4 crore. His announcement was welcomed amid slogan shouting and thumping of benches by both ruling and opposition members.
Pawar strongly denied the opposition’s allegations of neglecting the underdeveloped Vidarbha and Marathwada in the fund allocation, especially after the winding up of the separate statutory development boards for these two regions.
“The government has allocated 26.04 per cent funds from the annual plan for the removal of the development backlog in Vidarbha against 23.03 per cent as per the Governor’s fund allocation formula. This means the government has allocated 3 per cent more, which comes to an additional Rs 2,000 crore for the Vidarbha region,” he said.
In case of Marathwada, the allocation is 18.66 per cent against 18.75 per cent as per the Governor’s formula, which is hardly 0.11 per cent less, said Pawar.
As far as the allocation of funds for the rest of Maharashtra is concerned, he added that 55.29 per cent funds have been allocated against 58.23 per cent as per the Governor’s formula.
“The government is committed to an overall development of the state and it is not its culture to neglect any particular region,” he noted.
Pawar also strongly rebutted the allegations that there was jugglery in budget numbers, saying that their charges were not based on facts. He said the revenue deficit will be less than 3 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product which is within the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management framework.
Pawar defended the Panchsutri development proposed in the budget, saying the government was resolved for its implementation to make Maharashtra the first state in the country with a $1 trillion economy.
“Panchsutri became popular in rural areas, which is quite rare. Inclusiveness of the budget is talked about by the common man,” he opined.
