Mahayuti To Spend Rs 270 Crore On Advertisements, And A Separate Department Now To Facilitate Monetary Aid For Senior Citizens

The Mahayuti led state government in Maharashtra is on a spending spree with an aim to entice the voters ahead of the state assembly polls expected in two months from now in October.

In an effort to highlight the welfare schemes launched in its two and a half years tenure, the state government has now reportedly earmarked Rs 270 crore solely for advertisements.

As per a Loksatta report, the state government has made provisions to issue advertisements in each form of popular media.

For short films that will involve celebrities to highlight state government’s achievements under Mahayuti rule, an expense of Rs 3 crore is expected. A sum of Rs 40 crore has been earmarked for advertisements in newspapers and Rs 40 crore for publicity through news television channels and electronic media. Rs 51 crore will be spent on advertisement through social media networking sites.

Further, a sum of Rs 135 crore will be spent on erection of posters and digital screens at airports, railway stations, bus terminals and recreational spots across the state.

The publicity blitz is intended to majorly highlight schemes like Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana and the Mukhyamantri Yuva Karya Prashikshan Yojana.

The Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Scheme, announced in June, will reportedly entail an expense of Rs 46,000 crore per year. In this scheme, all women between the age of 21-65 with an annual income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh will receive a monetary assistance of Rs 1,500 per month.

In the Yuva Karya Prashikshan Yojana which comes at the cost of Rs 5,500 crore per year, students pursuing higher education in Maharashtra will be eligible to apply for state government-facilitated internships lasting six months. Each student will be paid a stipend ranging from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 per month by the state government during the period of the internship.

To further assert its welfare agenda, the state government on Monday issued directives to create a separate Senior Citizens Welfare Department. The government plans to execute all schemes meant for senior citizens through this department.

Some of the prominent schemes for senior citizens currently being implemented are state government’s Shravan Bal Yojana which involves Rs 600 monthly aid to all destitute senior citizens above the age of 65 and below poverty line (BPL) along with Union Government's Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana which entails distribution of assisted living devices free of cost.

The recently announced Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana involving a dole of Rs 30,000 to all BPL senior citizens for pilgrimage will also be implemented through this department.

Mahayuti’s slew of welfare announcements anticipating a tough poll fight in October has invited criticism from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders as well as academicians concerned with the state’s fiscal health.

Critics have pointed out that while the state government goes on devolving thousands of crores in monetary aid and subsidies, its pace of revenue growth hasn’t been able to match the increasing expenditure.

As per the recently released Maharashtra Economic Survey for FY23, the state’s fiscal deficit was seen to have widened sharply from Rs 67,602 crore in FY23 to the revised estimate of Rs 111,956 crore in FY24. Debt obligations over the state government in FY24 was seen at Rs 711,278 crore.