Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Monday that a bonus for paddy crop will be announced in the upcoming Winter Session of the Maharashtra Legislature to be held in December.
Speaking at a shaasan aplya daari (government at your doorstep) programme in Bhandara district in the Vidarbha region, Mr. Shinde, in a jibe at the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) said that his tripartite ‘Mahayuti’ government (comprising of Mr. Shinde’s Shiv Sena, Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party faction) believed that the best response to criticism was through work.
“The Mahayuti government will announce a bonus for paddy crop in the Winter Session to be held in Nagpur next month. We are planning to bring about 8,000 to 10,000 hectare of land under irrigation in the state very soon,” said Mr. Shinde.
Mr. Shinde was flanked by his deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar during the programme. The three top members of the State Cabinet came together during a public government programme after more than a month.
Mr. Shinde further claimed that the ruling alliance had reportedly won two-thirds of the seats in the recently held gram panchayat polls. But the Opposition MVA has disputed these claims stating that panchayat polls are not contested on any party symbol.
“The Opposition realises the ground is slipping from beneath their feet. The present government’s schemes related to health care, waiver of the MSRTC ticket fare for women among other things are greatly helping the common citizen. The CM Relief Fund has distributed ₹140 crore to eligible persons since the government took over in June last year, while this amount was barely ₹2.5 core under the previous MVA regime,” said Mr. Shinde.
