Will Maharashtra and Jharkhand be able to bear the burden of election promises? Know where the problem can get stuck

New Delhi: Election promises like Ladki Bahin Yojana, loan waiver for farmers, low electricity bills, free bus travel for women and free gas cylinders are resonating in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The government treasury may have to bear the brunt of their threat in the coming days. Even if the definition of freebies or raves could not be decided, such steps definitely affect the financial condition of the states. This has been seen in states like Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.

In Maharashtra, the Ladki Bahin Yojana, under which the opposition alliance is promising to give Rs 2000 per month instead of the existing Rs 1500 and the ruling alliance is promising Rs 2100 per month, was started on the lines of Ladli Behna Yojana of Madhya Pradesh. This scheme gave electoral advantage to BJP, but the result of such election promises was that in the last financial year MP had to borrow heavily and its total debt reached Rs 4 lakh 18 thousand crore and this year it is more than Rs 94000 crore. You may have to take a loan.

Will Maharashtra’s budget bear the burden of election promises?

The condition of Maharashtra is such that for the current financial year, Rs 4677 crore was allocated in the schemes of the Women and Child Welfare Department, while Rs 46000 crore is to be spent annually only on the Girl Child Scheme, and that too on the basis of Rs 1500 per month. But. The financial condition of the state is such that according to the revised estimates of the last financial year, its fiscal deficit was at 2.8% of its GDP and in the budget of the current financial year it was said that it would be 2.6%.

Capital expenditure will come under fire

In the budget presented in July, a fiscal deficit of Rs 1.1 lakh crore was given, which may cross Rs 2 lakh crore due to the supplementary demand of about Rs 95,000 thousand crore passed later. In the last financial year, about Rs 46,000 crore was given in all subsidies and in the election year budget, the Shinde government had allocated about Rs 96,000 crore for populist schemes. Now the burden of new election promises will also be there. This may hit capital expenditure, whose share in total expenditure has already reduced compared to last year’s budget this time.

The entire budget may go awry in Jharkhand too

On the other hand, in the budget of Rs 1.28 lakh crore which was passed for the current financial year in Jharkhand, the limit of agricultural loan waiver has already been increased from Rs 50 thousand to Rs 2 lakh. According to the revised estimate of 2023-24, the fiscal deficit was at 2.7% of the state’s GDP, which is now estimated to be 2.02%. Jharkhand is in a position of revenue surplus since 2016-17 on the basis of income from mining. In the financial year 2024, Jharkhand had spent Rs 4800 crore on subsidy. But the way promises have been made of giving Rs 2100 to Rs 2500 per month to every poor woman, if the time comes to fulfill them, Jharkhand’s revenue surplus status may be in danger.