With a clear eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Eknath Shinde-led three party-alliance Maharashtra Government on Saturday unveiled a Rs 59,000 crore development package for the backward Marathwada region in the state.
Making an announcement on the eve of the 75th anniversary of Marathwada Liberation Day, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde said that of the total package money, an estimated Rs 45,000 crore would be utilised for undertaking various development works, while the remaining Rs 14,000 crore would be spent on various irrigation projects in the region.
Addressing a joint news conference at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (known popularly as Aurangabad) along with his deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP and Ajit Pawar of the NCP, Shinde of the Shiv Sena made 16 major announcements for the Aurangabad city, the headquarters of Marathwada which was part of the Nizam-ruled Hyderabad kingdom before it became part of India on September 17, 1948.
The Maharashtra government held its Cabinet meeting at Aurangabad for the first time after a gap of seven years. Earlier, a state cabinet had met in the erstwhile Nizam city in 2016.
The Rs 45,000 crore package announced for Marathwada would be spent on various development works to be undertaken in eight districts the region comprising Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Dharashiv (formerly known as Osmanabad), Jalna, Beed, Latur, Nanded, Hingoli, and Parbhani.
“We have given revised administrative sanctions for 11 major irrigation projects involving an investment of Rs 13,677 crore. The amount sanctioned will pave the way for bringing eight lakh hectares of land under irrigation,” the chief minister said.
As part of utilisation of money set aside for the irrigation projects, the state government has chalked out plans to make Marathwada ‘drought-free’ by diverting water from the state rivers to the Godavari Basin in a project costing over Rs 14,040-crore and irrigating over 8-lakh hectares of land in the region.
Of the development package, the state government has set aside Rs 1,076 crore for women empowerment programme. “In all, 12 lakh women would be benefitted from the programme,” Shinde said.
Of the total package, the state government would spend Rs 21,580 crore on water resources projects, Rs 12,938 crore on public works department works, Rs 3,318 crore on animal husbandry, dairy development and fisheries projects, Rs 1,608 crore on planning, Rs 1,028 crore on transport and Rs 1,291 core on rural development.
The chief minister said that the state government would implement Rs 2,540 crore drinking water distribution system, introduce 1,197 e-buses in the revenue division of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and set up a sports university would at Auranagbad at a cost of Rs 656.38 crore. It would also incur Rs 188.19 crore for introducing an Intelligent Traffic Management System in the national highways passing through Aurangabad.
The other projects listed in the package include renovation of Sant Dnyaneshwar Park in Paithan, a high-level dam in Shanidevgaon in Vaijapur for irrigation and revamping religious places including Grishneshwar Temple, Tulja Bhavani Temple, Aundha Nagnath temple, Shri Udagir Baba’s Samadhi, Murdeshwar Temple and Saibaba Temple in Pathri which was the birthplace of the revered saint whose samadhi temple is in Shirdi, Nashik
While replying to a question on the controversy over news reports that the chief minister and his two deputies were splurging money by staying five-star hotels at Aurangabad, the chief minister said: “Just for your information, we are staying in the state-run guest houses and not five-star hotel as is being reported in a section of the media”.
Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress came down heavily on the Shinde-Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government for not declaring drought in Marathwada.
“Though the state government has announced a Rs 59,000 crore package for Marathwada region, in reality the people of the region have not got anything. It is merely just a game of numbers. We will only know what the government has done once the public gets something in their hands,´Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said.
“Marathwada is reeling under severe drought, and the cases of farmer suicides have increased in the region. In such circumstances, it was essential to declare a drough