It is Sharad Pawar, who says that the Centre should give whopping Rs 1 lakh crore to Maharashtra. This demonstrates Pawar’s compulsion for petty politics even in times of global crisis. Otherwise, senior leader like Pawar would not have made such an inequitably large, strange demand for Maharashtra’s. The connotation of his letter is to ask for help from the Centre and then to criticize the Modi Govt for not giving it as he knew that it is impossible for Modi to give Rs 1 lakh Crores for any State.
Shreya Rohit
It would be absurd to say that Sharad Pawar, a four-time Chief Minister of Maharashtra, a Minister in the Union Government for more than ten years and a senior Parliamentarian who has spent fifty years in his overall life as a Public Representative, has no idea how the country’s government works. However, it is Pawar who says that the Centre should give Rs 1 lakh crore to Maharashtra. This demonstrates Pawar’s compulsion for petty politics even in times of global crisis. Otherwise, Pawar would not have made such an inequitably large demand for Maharashtra’s, which is surely more prosperous than other states, amidst the grave situation in the country. The same Pawar who enjoys hegemony in the Maha-Aghadi ruled Maharashtra government should also speak up about how much money the State government spends for development of districts like Parbhani, Gadchiroli, Sindhudurg, Buldana and how much it gives to Pune, Baramati, Nashik and Kolhapur!
Sharad Pawar is well known for his manipulative compulsions to stimulate a reaction. But it seems that even in the wake of hard-edged COVID-19 pandemic, he has not been able to contain his compulsion while the Centre has been assiduous at the handling of national affairs. He has recently written to PM Modi seeking one lakh crore “generous financial package” to Maharashtra government. Sharad Pawar is an adept senior politician and an ex-minister, and it goes untold that he is familiar with the intricacies of running the government. It is imperative that in our federal system, the Centre sees all States equal, especially in the given crisis. Therefore, it seems the fiscal assistance demand in Pawar’s letter is inequitably large for the Centre to fulfil, all of which Pawar is well aware of and intends to do nothing else but politicize the matter. It is regrettable to see this purportedly seasoned national leader showing constricted theory on financial matters, in this crisis.
It agitates Sharad Pawar’s supporters to say that he has expertise in disaster management. For this, there are examples from the Latur earthquake, Mumbai bomb blast to the earthquake in Gujarat. The gravity of the situation has intensified in Maharashtra, and Pawar’s own Pune and the state capital Mumbai is hard-hit. It is appalling to see his one-sided suggestion of demanding rupees one lakh crore to tackle the situation.
The pandemic has battered the urban economy, and hence, the Centre should draw a loan to help the State, writes Pawar. Further, he also writes that if the financial assistance is not given, these states won’t further the Centre’s measures dealing with COVID spread. It is valid to seek grants, but one lakh crore admittedly does not seem to be an equitable demand. If going by the suggestions in the letter, the central government then has to provide Rs 30 lakh crore to help all the states in the country. Sharad Pawar is smart enough to understand that this is not possible.
His political manoeuvres but go beyond that. The connotation of this letter is to ask for help from the Centre and then to criticize the Centre for not giving it. Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar had written two letters to the Centre seeking help. However, he did not receive a response from the Centre. Now Sharad Pawar has written a letter to the Centre expressing the need to provide financial assistance to the State. These letters are an ostensible way to show that the Centre is not helping at all. However, these clever ‘who knows it all’ do not show consideration as to what painful effect it registers on the psyche of the common public. This sham of the economy coming to a standstill has created panic amongst all people from businessmen to public servants.
As is Ajit Pawar had hastily announced to cut the salaries of state government employees. But the opposition from all over led him to call-off the decision. This disregarding step by the state government has demoralized altruistic government employees, primarily when the whole battle against the proliferation of COVID-19 is being shouldered mainly by them. Obviously but it would have been nice if the Pawar leaders had not been so inconsiderate towards them and had respected the financial insecurities of our brave government employees, like all others.
As seen, the proponents of the State’s Maha-Aghadi have now started giving statistics on Maharashtra’s share of the country’s revenue to double down on the Center. They also say that Maharashtra has paid Rs 1 lakh crore 85 thousand in the form of GST to the Center in 2019. This figure is correct, but what lies beneath is not as straightforward as it looks. Mumbai is the financial capital of the country. The headquarters of all major industries are in Mumbai. Therefore, GST is paid by them through the Mumbai office. For illustration, the Tata Group has projects from Pantnagar in Jharkhand to Tatanagar in Uttarakhand; however, they pay their taxes at Mumbai. Let’s say in future should it happen that the States insist on imposing the taxes on the manufacturing in their State and it to be paid in their States only, anyone would understand, what a massive financial crisis it brings for Maharashtra. Therefore, it is explicit why GST payment by Maharashtra to the Centre is as apparent as the nose on the face.
• Modi enhanced States Shares
Now it is necessary to look at other facts too. During the ten years of Congress rule in the country, the states were getting 32 per cent of the total taxes collected at the Centre. Prime Minister Modi proposed the idea of co-operative federalism. He increased the share of States by 10 per cent, making it 42 per cent. PM Modi then, proposed the need to strengthen the States. Maharashtra government’s dereliction of that forethinking while seeking help from the Centre is self-explanatory. It is relevant to note that for States to get assistance from the Centre includes several criteria such as population, size of the State, per capita income and special status, if any, to the State. Therefore, “more the taxes paid, more the rightful share in seeking financial assistance,” is not a bone of contention either in consonance with the law or in the principles of federalism.
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