MUMBAI: The BJP-led state government has decided to spend Rs 3,600 crore to build a grand Shivaji memorial off the coast of Mumbai–the kind of money that could have helped achieve a lot of targets for the city and the state as a whole, a survey of budgetary estimates reveals.
The budget proposed for the memorial is roughly equal to the BMC’s annual health budget –Rs 3,694 crore– which is used to run four medical colleges, five specialty hospitals and 16 peripheral hospitals, besides a strong net s work of over 170 municipal dispensaries and primary health centres in each ward.
The big-ticket spending is also almost seven times the budget for developing open spaces in the city. The BMC has decided to set aside Rs 500 crore this year to maintain open spaces and gardens.
The state is yet to pay Rs 1,000 crore as compensation to cotton and soyabean farmers for crop loss due to drought last year. Citizens from all quarters have criticized the government for spending so much money on the project, especially at a time when the agriculture sector is struggling to recover from fo ur years of drought. In addition, the government still needs to pay Rs 800 crore as crop insurance for losses during last year’s rabi season.
The budget to run municipal schools in the city is Rs 2,400 crore, only 67% of the money being spent on the memorial. The BMC runs 1,250 schools which cater to four lakh students and also provides for midday meal services and gives 27 school items for free to encourage students to come to school.
Besides, the government has set aside a budget of Rs 2,500 crore for providing drinking water supply to villages across the state. This project is to be completed in four years. To provide water to 21,000 drought-stricken villages in 2015 and to run fodder camps for cattle, the state had incurred an expenditure of Rs 650 crore.
Vinod Tawde, cultural affairs minister said, “When it comes to the cost for the Shivaji memorial, we are not looking at the budget. Money will not fall short for this project. All we want is to give a befitting tribute to the great leader.”
The cost of the memorial project, which is going to be inaugurated on Saturday, was Rs 100 crore in 2004, when it first reached the planning stages, and has since gone up to Rs 3,600 crore.
CM Devendra Fadnavis had said during the winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur that no amount was too much for Chhatrapati Shivaji’s memorial. The state’s debt at present is Rs 3.33 lakh crore.