Mahayuti's Ladki Bahin scheme fallout: Payments to other projects put on hold
According to the government estimates, 2.45 crore women will be eligible for the scheme which will cost the state ₹46,000 crore per annum
MUMBAI: While the state government is a week away from disbursing the first tranche of funds to eligible beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, other government departments are feeling a financial pinch.
After its drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections, the Mahayuti government launched the scheme to woo women voters – promising them ₹1500 each month – ahead of the Assembly elections. The scheme was launched in July, and the first lot of payments will be delivered to bank accounts women, earning less than 2.5 lakh a year, on August 17. That this is its focal point was underlined by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, at a recent cabinet meeting when he said: “At least for some time payment of Ladki Bahin and salaries of government employees will be the only priority.”
According to the government estimates, 2.45 crore women will be eligible for the scheme which will cost the state ₹46,000 crore per annum. Meanwhile, payouts for other departments have been suspended.
Last week, when Milind Bhosale, president of the Maharashtra State Contractors Association, met Manisha Mhaiskar, additional chief secretary of the public works department (PWD) to discuss pending bills of around ₹21,000 crores of contractors carrying out work related to roads, bridges, government buildings etc, he was asked to wait till the first instalment of the Ladki Bahin scheme was disbursed. “The ACS told us the department will release funds for contractors only after the beneficiaries of the scheme are paid,” said Bhosale.
Likewise, in a cabinet meeting on August 7, when the agriculture department proposed to distribute Nano Urea and Nano DAP (fertilizer) free of cost to the 90 lakh farmers covered under PM Kisan Sanman Nidhi, the finance minister said, “There are no funds available for new expenditure now. We will look at this later.” This will apply to farmers who are already beneficiaries of the central government scheme, where they get ₹6000 per annum in three instalments. The fertiliser is priced at ₹1650 in the market. According to the department’s assessment, the estimated expenditure will be ₹1485 crore in the first phase.
On the other hand, Anandi Awaghade, president of Maharashtra Asha Workers Federation complained that the government was yet to release funds allocated for the hike in Asha workers’ honorarium. She said, the workers have been waiting for the amount to be credited to their bank accounts.
When HT spoke to Umesh Patil, chief spokesperson of NCP (Ajit Pawar), about the suspension of funds, he said, “The state government has funds but it also has obligations like salaries and other expenses to run the government. Hence, it has fixed its priority on an ambitious scheme like Ladki Bahin. Once the first installment is distributed, all pending bills and new expenses will be looked at.”