Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis retained the Home, Energy and Urban Development portfolios with himself. Finance department has been given to Vidarbha MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar while Revenue and Excise departments have been handed over to Eknath Khadse. Industries ministry has been given to Mumbai (Gharkopar) MLA Prakash Mehta.
The distribution of portfolios gave an indication that Fadnavis had kept Public Works Department (PWD), Irrigation, Agriculture and one or two other important ministries for the Shiv Sena. Energy has been retained by the Chief Minister himself as one of the first priorities of the new government is to provide 247 electricity to all parts of the state and make the state load shedding free. Sudhir Mungantiwar takes over as the Finance minister of the state as it faces a debt which could cross Rs.3,10,000 crore in the current financial year. Given the rising wage bill and debt servicing commitments the state has just 38% of its revenue available for development work.
Senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse who had handled Finance department during the Shiv Sena-BJP regime from 1995 to 1999 has been given Revenue and Excise which are crucial departments for the state which is currently facing major financial trouble.
In the last financial year the state's total revenue has been just over Rs.1,69,000 crore and the deficit has been just over Rs.5,000 crore. Khadse's challenge will be to ensure a rise of at least 10% in the revenue. Ghatkopar (Mumbai) MLA Prakash Mehta will handle the Industries portfolio as one of the biggest challenges for his ministry is to stop the migration of capital.
No comments:
Post a Comment