Mumbai: State Government (GG) Resolution on voluntary payment the payment of compensation to the families of farmers who committed suicide has sparked controversy, with the opposition claiming that the payment has been stopped altogether due to the huge amounts paid for Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana.
However, the state argued that it had stopped paying urgent benefits without a budget only because it had allocated budget funds to voluntary benefits.
The issue led to a discussion in the state cabinet on Thursday, during which ministers sought an explanation, which led to the scrapping of the old circular and issuance of a new GR. The state makes an ex-gratia payment of Rs 1 lakh to the family of farmers who commit suicide if the case is debt-related.
The original GR issued on Tuesday said it was difficult to estimate the number of farmer suicides in a year. As a result, in May this year, the state allowed payments to relatives, even though no budget had been allocated for the purpose. In such cases, the government later returns the money to district authorities.
However, there was a section in the GR that caused controversy. It said that the facility was halted for the fiscal year due to “financial implementation.”
GR was scooped by the Opposition. “The funds given to the families of farmers who committed suicide were stopped. The funds were diverted to the Ladki Bahin scheme. The farmers’ families were affected by this scheme,” alleged NCP (Sharad Pawar group) MLA Jitendra Awhad in X.
By Thursday, the state had withdrawn the circular and issued a new GR. The new GR said the ability to approve payments despite the lack of budget allocation had been stopped as it was no longer needed. This is because the budget allocation was made for ex-gratia payments, it said.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told X, “No other schemes are being closed because of Ladki Bahin Yojana. Payment to the relatives of farmers who commit suicide has not been stopped. When there is no budget allocation, such a payment mechanism is put in place so that no one is inconvenienced. Now that the budget allocation has been made, the mechanism has been withdrawn. That’s all.”