Mahayuti’s overspending derailing Maharashtra’s financial legacy: Shiv Sena (UBT) in 'Saamana'

Shiv Sena UBT on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the Mahayuti government over its decision to present supplementary demands of Rs 9770640 crore just three months after the presentation of the Maharashtra Budget for 202627 alleging that the move reflects deteriorating financial discipline and poor fiscal planningThe criticism came through an editorial published in the partys mouthpiece Saamana which accused the state government of excessive spending and claimed that Maharashtras longstanding reputation for sound financial management was being underminedAccording to the editorial rising public debt increasing interest liabilities and repeated supplementary demands have placed significant pressure on the states financesEditorial raises concerns over state financesThe Shiv Sena UBT claimed that Maharashtras public debt has risen to nearly Rs 11 lakh crore while the annual interest burden has reached around Rs 60000 croreThe party alleged that arbitrary expenditure from the state treasury and inadequate financial planning had weakened the states economyDrawing an analogy the editorial compared the governments handling of finances to a student repeatedly seeking additional answer sheets during an examinationldquoMaharashtrarsquos supplementary champion government is publicly making a mockery of the states devastated economy by setting records in supplementary demandsrdquo it remarkedQuestions raised over repeated supplementary demandsThe editorial argued that presenting supplementary demands shortly after the annual budget reflects deficiencies in fiscal planningThe state governmentrsquos financial planning has completely derailed due to reckless extravagance on nonproductive activities Maharashtra once enjoyed an excellent reputation for its financial discipline but over the last four years this reputation has completely withered away During these past four years the Mahayuti government has gone on a relentless spree of bringing supplementary demands of nearly Rs 5 lakh crore This is a world record for extrabudgetary spendingrdquo said the editorialAccording to the party supplementary demands should ordinarily be introduced towards the end of the financial year if allocated funds prove insufficient or when new schemes require additional expenditureOpposition alleges political use of budgetary provisionsThe Shiv Sena UBT further alleged that budgetary allocations were deliberately omitted from the main budget and later introduced through supplementary demandsToday however allocations are intentionally concealed in the main budget and thousands of crores are later demanded through supplementary routes to serve political motives This time the government has crossed all limits With nine full months remaining until the next budget the governmentrsquos revenue and expenditure estimates collapsed within the first three monthsrdquo it commentedThe party claimed that such practices weakened transparency in public finance and reflected poor expenditure managementCompares current government with MVA tenureThe editorial also compared the Mahayuti governments financial approach with that of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA administrationAccording to Shiv Sena UBT leaders who are currently in power had criticised the MVA government for presenting much smaller supplementary demands when they were in the OppositionldquoToday those very opposition leaders serve as the states Chief Minister and Finance Minister Despite supplementary demands crossing Rs 5 lakh crore in four years under their watch they no longer view it as financial indisciplinerdquo it addedThe editorial argued that the standards applied by the present ruling alliance had changed after assuming officeShiv Sena UBT alleges decline in financial legacyConcluding its criticism the party alleged that the Mahayuti government was damaging Maharashtras reputation for fiscal prudence through excessive supplementary spendingThe editorial described the present administration as a SupplementaryChampion government and claimed it was setting new records in supplementary demands while weakening the states economic legacyThe Mahayuti government has not issued an official response to the allegations made in the Saamana editorialWith inputs from IANS