Election promises don’t always guarantee immediate action: Maharashtra Deputy CM

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister CM Ajit Pawar on Saturday addressed concerns over loan waivers emphasising that crop loans must be repaid by March 31 news agency ANI reportedHe admitted that election promises do not always materialise and that decisions will be based on prevailing conditions However he assured that farmers would benefit from 0 per cent interest loansWhether its Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis or Deputy CM Eknath Shinde the focus remains on working for the welfare of the people Recently many citizens raised concerns about the election manifestos promise of loan waivers As of March 28 Friday I want to clearly inform the people of Maharashtra through this programme to repay their crop loans by March 31 Promises made during elections dont always translate directly into actions Considering the current circumstances decisions will be made in the future However for now and even next year loans taken must be repaid On a positive note arrangements have been made to avail of loans at 037 interest said Finance Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar according to ANISpeaking at an event in Baramati Pawar addressed the states financial challenges emphasising the strain of major commitments While presenting the Rs 72 lakh crore state budget he pointed out the hefty burden of waiving electricity bills amounting to approximately Rs 65000 crorePawar emphasised that the Maharashtra Government has to foot the bill for these waived electricity charges which is a substantial expense ANI reportedWhatever was said does not come into action directly because while presenting a budget of Rs 72 lakh crore electricity bills worth about Rs 65000 crore have been waived off meaning you dont but we the government have to pay it added PawarHe listed several areas where the state government must allocate funds including Rs 45000 crore for the flagship Ladki Bahin YojanaThen our dear sisters for whom Rs 45000 crore has been planned at the rate of Rs 1500 you people should remember all these things and Rs 35 lakh crore has been kept for the rest of the works It costs me Rs 35 lakh crore to pay the salaries of all the employees and officers pension for those who have retired and interest on the loan taken by the government Pawar saidSo if we add Rs 65000 crore and 35 lakh crore then almost 425 lakh crore is spent in this From the remaining money I have to spend on school books uniforms electricity water roads etc You people should also keep all these things in mind Pawar addedRecalling his visit to Kolhapur on Thursday the finance minister mentioned that his cabinet and party colleague Hasan Mushrif urged him to address the issue of crop loan waivers as many people were eagerly awaiting financial reliefYesterday I was in Kolhapur even there Hasan Mushrif asked me to quickly tell him what to do as people are not paying and are waiting Hence we will take a decision after looking at the circumstances and right now the situation is not such therefore the loan taken this year and the next year too will have to be repaid We have definitely done one thing we have made arrangements to take a loan at 0 per cent interest and the interest in banks is about Rs 1000 to 1200 crores and I have passed that on to the banks he additionally stated reported ANIWith ANI inputs