Mumbai: Muslim MLAs from the city have criticised the Maharashtra budget for the year 2026–27, presented by the Mahayuti government on Friday, saying that allocations to schemes for minorities have been curtailed.
Congress MLA from Mumbadevi, Amin Patel, said that minorities have been ignored in the budget. “The allocation for minority schemes is very small. Many schemes have been closed. Educational loans are becoming difficult for minorities to access,” said Patel, adding that he will raise the issue in the Assembly session on Monday.
Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh said there was not a single new announcement for minorities. He pointed out that the state Economic Survey, presented on Thursday, showed that less than 50% of the funds allocated for minorities had been utilised till December 2025 in the current financial year.
“In this backdrop, it was expected that the Mahayuti government would make adequate allocations for minorities. However, the budget has come as a great disappointment for us and shows stepmotherly treatment towards minorities,” Shaikh said.
Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi said the budget offers neither special schemes for education nor concrete steps for employment or welfare of minorities.
“For many years, various committees and commissions have recommended reservations and special assistance for minorities, yet no concrete steps have been taken on those recommendations,” Azmi said, adding that the budget has almost no provision for the Urdu language.
“If the government cannot provide reservation or make adequate budgetary provisions, then at the very least it should ensure dignity and equal rights for the Muslims of Maharashtra and other minorities,” he said.
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Azmi added that while the government claims to follow the ideals of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, its actions suggest otherwise. “Merely invoking the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj while harbouring hostility towards Muslims in order to remain in power is an insult to the entire state of Maharashtra,” he said.
Shaikh said that while the Mahayuti government has closed the doors for Muslim reservation and is planning an anti-conversion law that could target the Muslim community, minorities were expecting some welfare schemes but have been completely sidelined. “The budget shows that the government does not care about the Muslim community,” he added.
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