Ashok Chavan: State spent Rs 64,000crore, but to no avail

Mumbai: The Congress on Wednesday claimed that despite the BJP-led Maharashtra government having spent more than Rs 64,000 crore on upgrading water resources in the past four years, there had been no substantial increase in the state’s irrigation potential. state Congress chief Ashok Chavan demanded a probe to find out if there were any irregularities in the spending of these funds.

“In the last four years, the total amount spent, with revised administrative approvals, on all irrigation projects has been over Rs 64,000 crore. But this has not increased the irrigation potential of the state," said Mr Chavan told. As per the 15th Finance Commission, only 18 per cent of the state’s total cultivable land has been irrigated.

Mr Chavan said that the Finance Commission’s findings about the state had shown a “mirror” to the ruling BJP, which had accused the previous Congress-NCP government of financial mismanagement.

Till 2013-14, the total debt of the state was Rs 2.69 lakh crore. But in the last four years, the amount had doubled, the former chief minister claimed. The fiscal deficit had gone up to 3 per cent (in the BJP-led government's tenure) from 1.7 per cent in 2013-14. In 2013, the revenue deficit was 0.3 per cent of the GSDP while it was now 0.5 per cent, Mr Chavan claimed.

The Finance Commission had said that the debt amount was being used to meet the administrative expenses, he pointed out, claiming there was no increase in the state's revenue. In a veiled reference to the CM, Mr Chavan claimed that despite the current leadership hailing from Vidarbha, the region's development had not picked up pace.