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Govt seeks nod for ₹55,520-crore supplementary budget
NAGPUR: On the first day of the state legislature’s winter session, the alliance government presented supplementary demands of ₹55,520 crore, the highest in the recent history of the state
NAGPUR: On the first day of the state legislature’s winter session, the alliance government presented supplementary demands of ₹55,520 crore, the highest in the recent history of the state. Amid the ongoing tussle between communities over reservation, the government has made provisions of over ₹1,800 crore for various schemes for communities demanding a reservation quota.
Supplementary demands, or expenditure outside the budget, are put by the government to the legislature for the latter’s approval. In the last few years, such amounts have been on the rise. The supplementary demands tabled on Thursday will take the supplementary budget amount for 2023-24 to over 20 percent of the state’s budget after the final demands are tabled in March 2024.
With supplementary demands of ₹41,243 crore tabled in July this year, the total supplementary budget in the ongoing fiscal year has already gone over ₹96,500 crore, which is around 17 percent of the budget. Supplementary demands ideally should not go beyond 10 percent of the budget.
Faced with the aggressive protest by Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, the Shinde government has earmarked ₹360 crore for the Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Classes, which has been asked to collect data to prove the backwardness of the Maratha community. There is also a provision of ₹53 crore for scholarships for Maratha students.
The OBC community, the traditional vote bank of the BJP, has sizable funds earmarked for it too: ₹1,000 crore for a housing scheme and ₹269 crore for Mahajyoti, the welfare corporation for OBCs. A fund of ₹300 crore has also been allocated for a development corporation formed in the name of Narendra Modi.
The Dhangar (shepherd) community, which has been asking to be included in the scheduled tribes list, has been given ₹6 crore for preparation in competitive exams and recruitment in police and defence forces. There is a provision of ₹500 crore for development works in minority-dominated areas in addition to ₹46 crore for preparation of competitive exams by students from the OBC, VJNT and Special Backward Class.
The government has also made a provision of ₹40 crore to be spent on the flying of VVIPs; this allocation is expected to be spent on leasing aircraft for ministers ahead of the polls. A provision of ₹67 crore has also been made for the Lok Sabha polls and their preparations.
After the supplementary demands were tabled, there was an uproar. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar assured the legislative council that members would get the opportunity to discuss the supplementary budget on Monday and Tuesday. The assurance came in response to a query from Jayant Patil (PWP), who noted that budget allocations were consistently increasing each year, surpassing the annual budget itself. He expressed regret that such a substantial budget was being passed without adequate discussion, and insisted on detailed discussions and members’ suggestions being incorporated.
