No free sarees: yet another Shinde welfare scheme scrapped by Fadnavis

The November 2023 scheme is the latest welfare initiative launched during Eknath Shinde’s CM tenure to be discontinued by the Devendra Fadnavis government.

The Maharashtra government has intensified its cost-cutting measures by discontinuing yet another welfare scheme. On Thursday, it decided to scrap the ‘One Ration Card, One Saree’ scheme, citing the financial burden on the exchequer. Officials said the move would save the government nearly ₹90 crore annually.

No free sarees: yet another Shinde welfare scheme scrapped by Fadnavis

The November 2023 scheme is the latest welfare initiative launched during Eknath Shinde’s CM tenure to be discontinued by the Devendra Fadnavis government. Before this, Fadnavis stopped the ‘Anandacha Shidha’ and the ‘Shiv Bhojan Thali’ schemes among others. Under Anandacha Shidha, low-income families received essential grocery kits during major festivals for ₹100 while the Shiv Bhojan Thali scheme provided subsidised cooked meals to the poor for ₹10. It received a huge response during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The saree scheme, under which one powerloom-woven sari was provided every year to each Antyodaya ration card-holding family, has been discontinued with effect from the financial year 2026-27,’ stated the government resolution issued by the state textile department on Thursday. Under this scheme, over 2.4 million economically disadvantaged families received a free powerloom-woven saree every year. The sarees were procured directly from cooperative societies, self-help groups (SHGs) and the Maharashtra State Powerlooms Corporation (MSPC).

“The scheme not only provided festival assistance to poor families but also created an assured market for local handloom and powerloom weavers,” said a senior textile department official. “It was a key component of the Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy (2023-28), which is why it was introduced in November 2023 for a five-year period.”

In its first year, the government spent nearly ₹88 crore on the scheme, with each saree costing it ₹355, excluding 5% GST. Over its planned five-year duration, the scheme was expected to cost the state over ₹450 crore. “The state government also bore all associated expenses, including the transportation, loading and unloading,” another official said.

The decision comes amid mounting fiscal pressure on the state.

A finance department statement tabled in the legislature on July 10 said that fresh guarantees extended for borrowings by various agencies undertaking infrastructure and housing projects had pushed the state’s cumulative outstanding guarantees to ₹1.81 lakh crore as of March 31, 2026, up from ₹1.44 lakh crore a year earlier. The outstanding guarantees now account for 16.4% of the state’s estimated debt stock.