Shinde fadnavis govt ’s first budget offers aid to farmers sops to women

Shinde fadnavis govt ’s first budget offers aid to farmers sops to women

Focus on sustainable farming, inclusive growth, infrastructure boost, environment-friendly development and job creation; ‘Lek Ladki’ scheme announced for empowerment of girl child

The Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government on Thursday presented its maiden budget with an outlay of ₹1.72 lakh crore for 2023-24, offering aid of ₹6,000 and a ₹1 crop insurance scheme for farmers, and tax relief and 50% discount on fares in State-run buses for women.

“The first budget of the ‘amrit kaal’ is based on ‘panchamrit’ (five) principles,” said Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the finance portfolio, while reading out the budgetary allocations from an iPad in the State Assembly.

“The first ‘amrit’ is sustainable farming and prosperous farmers. The second is inclusive development of all sections of society, including women, tribal people, backward classes and OBCs. The third is development of infrastructure with substantial capital investment. The fourth ‘amrit’ is employment generation for competent, skilled and employable youth, and the fifth is environment-friendly development,” he said.

Budget estimates

Mr. Fadnavis presented a revenue deficit budget of ₹16,222 crore with a provision of ₹5.47 lakh crore for expenditure. As per the budgetary estimates, revenue receipts have been pegged at ₹4.49 lakh crore, revenue expenditure at ₹4.65 lakh crore and fiscal deficit at ₹95,500 crore.

The Finance Minister also announced that the Jalyukta Shivar Yojana 2.0 will be implemented in 5,000 villages. Mr. Fadnavis had launched the scheme when he was the Chief Minister (2014-19), but it was discontinued when the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance came to power after the 2019 Assembly election.

The budget proposed the ‘Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi’ scheme, under which every farmer in the State will get ₹6,000 in addition to the ₹6,000 given under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi every year. “An additional outlay of ₹6,900 will be made in 2023-24. As many as 1.15 crore farmer families will benefit from it,” he said.

Mr. Fadnavis also allocated ₹3,312 crore for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, a ₹1 crop insurance scheme. “Under the earlier scheme, farmers had to pay 2% of the premium. Now, the government will pay the amount,” he said.

The Minister said women will be given a 50% discount on ticket fares in Maharashtra State Transport Corporation buses and a waiver on professional tax on monthly salary of up to ₹25,000.

Announcing the ‘Lek Ladki’ scheme for the empowerment of girls, Mr. Fadnavis said for yellow and orange ration card holder families, a subsidy of ₹5,000 will be given after the birth of a girl child, ₹4,000 in Class I, ₹6,000 in Class VI and ₹8,000 in Class XI. After completing 18 years, ₹75,000 in cash will be given to the beneficiary, Mr. Fadnavis said.