The welfare worry

The cost of populist schemes has Maharashtra reeling; Karnataka and Telangana, too, are struggling to foot the welfare bill

- NACHIKET KELKAR, PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR AND RAHUL DEVULAPALLI

Anita, who works as a maid in Mumbai, has been receiving ₹1,500 a month through the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme, announced last July when the Mahayuti government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was in power. With her husband earning limited wages at a garage, the amount helps her make ends meet.

Under the scheme, women aged 21 to 65, and whose family income does not exceed ₹2.5 lakh a year, are eligible for monthly payouts. Ahead of the assembly polls last November, the Mahayuti coalition—which includes the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the NCP—had promised to increase the amount to ₹2,100 a month if reelected. With the Mahayuti's victory, women like Anita hoped for an increase. “We are still receiving ₹1,500 per month,” she said.

There is no allocation for the Ladki Bahin poll promise in the state budget presented by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar on March 10. The budget also did not fulfil the promise of farm loan waivers. “We have suffered a lot because of crop damage from excessive rainfall last year,” said Shyam Ghoghre, a farmer from Ghansawangi in Jalna district. “We were to get compensation, but we got only promises, and little else.”

The fact is that Maharashtra's fiscal situation gives Pawar little elbow room. The state's revenues this year is expected to be ₹5.6 lakh crore, but its expenditure is budgeted to go up to ₹6.06 lakh crore. The revenue deficit—the gap between income and expenditure—is pegged at ₹45,892 crore, up 73 per cent from last year's estimate.