Maha govt will have to take loan to pay staff salaries: Chavan

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan today said given the financial "indiscipline" the state is facing, the government will have to take loan even to pay salaries to its staff.

"The state has officially admitted (in the budget) its revenue deficit stood at Rs 15,000 crore which means it does not have sufficient income to make the necessary spendings.

"The necessary spendings include salaries of government employees and for that the state will need to take loan from banks," he said.

"This shows the state completely lacks financial discipline," Chavan told PTI.

Chavan, an MLA, was speaking outside the Assembly complex after Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar completed his reply over the budget he presented on March 9.

"Mungantiwar himself has admitted that the impact of the government's farm loan waiver on the state coffers is going to be felt for the next 3-4 years.

"It is an admission of his inability to increase the state income and reduce the revenue deficit," he said.

NCP leader Jayant Patil said the opposition had raised certain issues related to the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's memorial off the Arabian sea.

"We have raised the issue of the government reducing the height of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and increasing the height of the pedestal.

"We asked Mungantiwar about reasons for these changes, but he failed to give us any reply," said the former finance minister.

The Congress-NCP government had secured almost all the required clearcnes for the project, including some approvals from the Union environment ministry, Patil said.

"We had secured almost all the clearances except one or two, which the BJP-Shiv Sena government obtained once they assumed power (in 2014)," Patil said.

Still Mungantiwar failed to provide necessary figures and facts related to the project in the House, said the NCP legislator.