Maharashtra: Support for farmers, tax reliefs for women in Eknath Shinde-led govt’s maiden budget | 10 Points

The government has proposed support for farmers, tax reliefs for women among other big things. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde called the budget ‘historic and inclusive’.

Maharashtra: The Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government presented its first Budget for 2023-24 on Thursday. Deputy Chief and Finance Minister Devendra Fadnavis tabled the budget. The government has proposed support for farmers, tax reliefs for women among other big things. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde called the budget ‘historic and inclusive’.

• The Maharashtra govt has proposed Rs 6,000 assistance to farmers and Re 1 crop insurance scheme. It also proposed relief in professional tax to working women, 50 per cent discount on ticket fares in state-run buses and a new scheme for the girl child.
• Fadnavis presented a revenue deficit budget of Rs 16,222 crore in the Legislative Assembly with a total outlay of Rs 1,72,000 crore.
• Govt proposed ‘Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi’ scheme, under which every farmer in the state will get Rs 6,000 in addition to the Rs 6,000 given by Centre.
• “Under the ‘Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi’, an amount of Rs 12,000 will be deposited into the account of farmers every year, which includes Rs 6,000 from the Centre.
• An additional outlay of Rs 6,900 will be made in 2023-24. As many as 1.15 crore farmer families will benefit from it, Fadnavis said. The govt also announced Re 1 crop insurance scheme for farmers.
• “Farmers can register on the Pradhan Mantri crop insurance scheme portal by paying a fee of Re 1. The insurance premium will be paid by the government and not farmers. Annual outlay of Rs 3,312 crore will be made by the state government for this scheme,” Fadnavis said.
• “A new scheme – ‘Lek Ladki’ – will be launched for the empowerment of girls. For yellow and orange ration card holder families, a subsidy of Rs 5,000 will be given after the birth of a girl child, followed by Rs 4,000 in (when she is in) Class 1, Rs 6,000 in Class 6 and Rs 8,000 in Class 11. After completing 18 years of age, a cash amount of Rs 75,000 will be given to the beneficiary girl,” he said.
• Fadnavis announced a waiver in professional tax for women with a monthly salary of up to Rs 25,000.
• The Finance Minister also announced a new scheme ‘Shakti Sadan’, to provide shelter to women in distress, who faced sexual exploitation or are facing domestic violence. It will be launched with the assistance of the central government by combining the Swadhar, Ujjwala schemes.
• ‘Divyang’ (specially-abled) people will also get a waiver in professional tax. The definition of ‘divyang’ will be revised by amending the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016,” he said.

(With inputs from PTI)

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