Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule has sharply criticised the Maharashtra state government, claiming that the reported discontinuation of various welfare schemes is a clear indicator of the state’s weak financial health and a total collapse of its fiscal management.
Speaking to reporters in Pune, Sule stated that she has been cautioning the public about the state’s “poor” financial condition for the last one and a half years. She was responding specifically to news that the state’s popular ‘Anandacha Shidha’ initiative, which provided free ration kits during festivals like Diwali, has been stopped.
“I am not surprised at all. For the last one and a half years, I have been saying that the state’s financial condition is not good, as schemes after schemes are being halted,” Sule said.
The NCP Working President cited multiple examples to support her claim:
- ‘Anandacha Shidha’ Stopped: She pointed to a statement by state minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who reportedly had not received clearance for the scheme from the finance department.
- ‘Ladki Bahin Yojana’ Beneficiaries Deleted: She noted that the scheme, launched with great fanfare last year, has already seen the deletion of 25 lakh beneficiaries’ names in the first phase.
- Scholarship Delays: Sule added that students are reportedly not receiving scholarship funds.
“If such an important initiative is being discontinued, if women’s names are being deleted every day from the Ladki Bahin Yojana, if students are not receiving scholarship funds, then it indicates that the state’s financial condition is not good,” she asserted.
Sule also questioned the government’s delay in responding to a different critical issue: not sending a report to the Centre detailing the losses caused by recent heavy rains. “Union Minister Amit Bhai Shah said yesterday that the Centre is ready to help, provided the state sends a report. Then why has the government not sent the report all these days?” she asked.
The parliamentarian charged that while essential welfare schemes are being stopped due to lack of funds, the government is simultaneously insisting on constructing the massive Shaktipeeth Expressway, valued at ₹80,000 crore.
“It shows that the state government has ₹80,000 crore to build the highway but does not have money to give ‘Anandacha Shidha’ to the poor people,” she concluded, reiterating that the fiscal management of the state has completely collapsed.