Mumbai: Social welfare minister Sanjay Shirsat on Saturday hit out at the state govt’s decision to divert an allocation of Rs 746 crore meant for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes depts to its flagship Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. The finance dept cannot divert funds from other depts, he fumed, and added that the state should close down the social welfare dept altogether if it is not needed.
“I heard about the diversion from the media. Earlier too, Rs 7,000 crore had been diverted from the dept. If this dept is not needed, they should close it down. I will speak to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis,” said Shirsat who belongs to the Shiv Sena led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde.
The episode showed the rift between Shinde and deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who heads finance. Without naming Pawar, Shirsat targeted the finance dept’s “Shakuni”.
Shirsat complained his dept already faced a debt of Rs 1,500 crore and fund diversion would mean even less money for its schemes. “This is the high-handedness of the ‘Shakuni’ in the finance department. Funds meant for this department cannot be diverted and used for Dalit sisters. The Ladki Bahin scheme does not recognise caste. The money should be raised from other sources,” he said.
Public health minister Prakash Abitkar who belongs to the Shiv Sena also said other departments were feeling the strain after the Ladki Bahin scheme was introduced. “It’s true that other departments have had to struggle for funds after the Ladki Bahin scheme was introduced. Not enough allocation was made in the budget.”
Rural development minister Girish Mahajan defended the govt though. “There is enough money for the Ladki Bahin scheme. No money will be diverted. Some arrangement must have been made for a few days but I am not aware of it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Opposition has targeted the govt. “The funds to the SC and ST departments are allocated on the basis of the population of these groups. Diverting funds is unfair to SCs and STs.”
Jayant Patil of the NCP (SP) said Shirsat could not afford to complain. “The Shiv Sena left the MVA govt after complaining that as finance minister Ajit Pawar was not giving funds to their party. Now they are in govt together once again. He is doing the same thing so now they can’t afford to complain,” said Patil.
According to the govt resolution issued on Friday, the state cleared the utilisation of Rs 410.3 crore out of the Rs 3,690 crore allocated for scheme expenditure to the social justice department and Rs 335.7 crore of the Rs 3,240 crore allocated for the scheme expenditure of the tribal welfare department for the Ladki Bahin scheme. These funds are to be used for the Ladki Bahin beneficiaries belonging to the SC and ST category.
The Ladki Bahin scheme was introduced in July 2024, and was aimed at the state assembly polls. It proved to be a gamechanger and led to a landslide victory for the Mahayuti alliance. In the state budget this March, the allocation for the scheme was reduced from Rs 46,000 crore last year to Rs 36,000 crore. At that time, Shirsat alleged Rs 7,000 crore had been diverted from the social justice department and Rs 3,000 crore from the tribal welfare department for the Ladki Bahin scheme