State Govt tables supplementary demands of record Rs 16,094 cr


* Rs 4,002.82 cr has been proposed for drought relief, and more amount for related expenditures
Staff Reporter
Maharashtra Government, on Tuesday, tabled supplementary demands of a record-breaking Rs 16,094 crore for approval before both the Houses of State Legislature. As had been hinted by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a substantial part of the supplementary demands has been proposed to provide relief to drought-affected farmers in the State.
The supplementary demands tabled this time have broken the record of Rs 11,695 crore worth of demands presented by the previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party led Democratic Front Government in the winter session of 2013. This time, the BJP-Shiv Sena led Government has surpassed that figure, and has tabled supplementary demands of a whopping Rs 1,60,94,14,83,000 that is a new record as far as supplementary demands tabled during winter session of State Legislature are concerned. Now, these supplementary demands will come up for discussion in both the Houses of State Legislature on Wednesday and Thursday, before getting passed.
Of the total supplementary demands, discussion will be held on demands of Rs 1,60,16,55,63,000 and remaining demands of Rs 77,59,20,000 as they come under 'Charged' category. It will be interesting to see if both the Houses of State Legislature see the demands discussed threadbare. For, it has become a routine of sorts that the Opposition parties create a ruckus in the Legislature over one issue or the other and demands are declared as passed on the second day of 'discussion' amid pandemonium. This time also, the Opposition parties -- Congress and NCP -- have become aggressive in the first week of winter session, and forced adjournments in both the Houses on Tuesday. Against this backdrop, it is likely that the record amount of supplementary demands will be passed with little discussion.
Though the supplementary demands this time have broken all previous records pertaining to winter session, there is one good thing about it. A major portion -- Rs 4,002.83 crore -- of the demands has been proposed for providing relief measures to farmers in drought-affeced areas. On the very first day of the winter session this time, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had told BJP legislators that the Government would be making making substantial provision in supplementary demands for drought relief. He has kept his words. The amount of Rs 4,002.82 crore is a non-recurrent supplementary demand.
Further, the supplementary demands include Rs 150 crore of non-recurrent expenditure on drinking water supply schemes as per the norms of State Disaster Response Fund. Also, there is a provision of Rs 10,66,90,000 for assistance for repairs and reconstruction of houses.
Also, the Central Government has released Rs 1,112.25 crore to State Government on account of natural calamities, as per the recommendations of 14th Finance Commission. The said amount exceeds budget provision of Rs 403.56 crore by Rs 708.69 crore. As such, the State needs to budget the additional amount. Accordingly, the State share of Rs 134.52 crore has been budgeted for the same. Considering the overall situation on this front, the State Government has proposed to budget an amount of Rs 944.92 crore through supplementary demands.
Though the supplementary this time have set a new record, the total additional plan outlay available to Development Boards of Vidarbha, Marathwada, and Rest of Maharashtra has been shown as 'Nil'.

Major allocations proposed in supplementary demands
n Rs 5,505 crore for drought relief through Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Department
n Rs 2,816 crore to Urban Development Department for payment of compensation in lieu of abolition of LBT to municipal corporations
n Rs 1,050 crore to Public Works Department for road works
n Rs 600 crore additional allocation for ‘Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan’
n Rs 174 crore provision to ensure that unspent part of MLA Fund does not get lapsed
n Rs 200 crore to Home Department for police housing schemes
(As told by Deepak Kesarkar, Minister of State for Finance and Planning) 
(08-12-15) 

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