The BJP-led Maharashtra government will come out with a white paper on the state’s economy, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said on Tuesday.
“We decided to come out with a white paper on the state economy to show a clear picture of the state’s financial position,” said Mungantiwar, who is scheduled to present the state budget on Wednesday.
The white paper will also reflect the future direction of Maharashtra, he added.
The paper will be tabled in this session, the minister said.
“We have decided to make some fundamental changes through this budget. Change cannot be achieved in a day or a year but we are making a beginning through this budget,” he said.
People feel that those in government should not only look good but do good work and that is why they have brought us to power, Mungantiwar added.
A major decision we took was to adopt the e-tender route instead of continuing the earlier practice of piling up purchases in March-end, he said.
“The chief minister has stipulated that there be e-tendering for any work above Rs. three lakh, the minister said. We are going to use information technology to the maximum extent to ensure financial discipline in the state. This includes using biometrics in public distribution scheme (PDS).
It involves an expenditure of Rs. 103 crore but will lead to saving of between Rs. 500 crore to Rs. 600 crore per year, the minister said.
In education sector, there are several cases unearthed recently of misuse of government aid. This can be curbed if IT is used, he added.
“It is true that the state’s economy is in a crisis. The state is reeling under a huge debt burden,” he said.
“Despite all this, we have faith in our people. We will find out a way to overcome this crisis,” he added.
The earlier Congress-NCP government gave guarantees to some projects which were not necessary. In such cases, the money isn’t returned and we lose funds, he said.
