A day after the BJP-led Maharashtra government declared drought in 26 districts, the opposition Congress Thursday demanded a Central assistance of Rs 5000 crore while accusing the ruling dispensation of fiscal mismanagement.
The state government Wednesday declared drought in 151 talukas in 26 of total 36 districts in the state.
As per a government order, 112 talukas are facing severe drought and 39 talukas a moderate drought.
"The BJP government has declared drought, but has made no budgetary allocations. Maharashtra is reeling under a debt of almost Rs 5 lakh crore. How will the government pay for drought relief? We demand Rs 5,000 crore central assistance for relief measures in Maharashtra," he said while addressing reporters.
Chavan said the ongoing "Jan Sangharsh" yatra of his party in the Marathwada region has been receiving huge response from the people.
He claimed that AICC general secretary in charge of Maharashtra Mallikarjun Kharge rang a symbolic "last bell" to mark the end of the Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra.
"As this government only believed in making false promises and issuing grand advertisements, they have no chance of returning to power next year," he said.
Chavan demanded the government spell out specific measures for drought relief.
The Central government had released Rs 3050 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to tackle drought in 2015, when 20 districts in Marathwada and Vidarbha were classified uner that category.
"The state government had spent Rs 16,000 crore on drought relief measures then. Given the government's mismanagement of financial resources in the past four years, mobilising funds to tackle the current drought seems difficult," Chavan alleged.
He alleged that only private contractors from the BJP and the Shiv Sena have benefitted from the Jalyukt Shivar scheme of the state government.
He alleged the chief minister was wasting public money on issuing advertisements of his government.
On the World Bank report on improvement in India's position in the 'Ease of Doing Business Index', Chavan said Maharashtra's rankings have fallen.
"Maharashtra, which used to be number one in the 'Ease of Doing Business in India', has slipped to number 13. This is a result of the incompetence of the state government," he said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)