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Maharashtra

Maharashtra Budget 2023: 10% hike in education outlay, scholarship amount for school students increased

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Mumbai: The state government has increased allocation for the education sector in its budget for the financial year 2023-24, though there’s a marginal drop in the share of education in the overall budget.

In 2022-23, the government spent around Rs 1.01 lakh crore on the education sector right from Anganwadis to initiatives in higher education. This expenditure was increased to 1.11 lakh crore – nearly a 10% hike – for the next fiscal.

The outlay for the state school education department rose from Rs. 66,886 CRORE allocated in 2022-23 to Rs 73,666 crore. The revised estimate for 2022-23 was also increased to Rs, 69,308 crore. The higher education department has received an allocation of Rs 13,648 crore, up from last year’s budget estimate of Rs 12,364 crore and the revised estimate of Rs 12,927 crore.

However, the share of school education in the Rs. 5.48 lakh crore presented by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday dipped slightly from 13.5% to 13.45%, while the share of higher education remained constant at 2.5%.


The government announced a hike in scholarship amount given to school children from Rs 1,000-1,500 to Rs 5,000-7,500. The state has also decided to provide free uniforms to primary students at all the schools run by local self-government bodies.

As announced earlier, the scholarship given to students for higher education has also been doubled from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000. However, the overall outlay for the scheme has increased only marginally from Rs 120 crore to Rs 124 crore.

A scholarship scheme to help 100 PhD students of Scheduled Tribe (ST) community every year was also announced in the budget. However, the allocation for another scheme to provide aid to Scheduled Caste (SC) students for studying abroad has been slashed. While last year the budget estimate for the scheme was Rs 150 crore, it was brought down to Rs 55 crore in the revised estimates. This year, the initiative has drawn only Rs 100 crore.

The state has also earmarked Rs 500 crore in the budget 2023-24 as a special grant to a number of universities in the state including the MUMBAI University of Mumbai. A provision of Rs 1,160 crore has been made for grants to partially-aided schools, with an aim of bringing them completely on the state’s tab.

Maharashtra

Aaditya Thackeray Elected Shiv Sena UBT Legislature Party Leader, Sunil Prabhu Named Chief Whip

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Aaditya Thackeray Elected Shiv Sena UBT Legislature Party Leader, Sunil Prabhu Named Chief Whip

Mumbai, November 25: Former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray was on Monday elected the Shiv Sena (UBT) legislature party leader at a meeting of the party legislators in Mumbai.

Aaditya, son of party president Uddhav Thackeray, defeated Milind Deora of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in the recent assembly elections from Worli constituency by 8,801 votes.

His winning margin dipped compared to the last elections in 2019, where it was 67,427 votes.

Senior party leader Ambadas Danve told reporters after the meeting of party legislators that former minister Bhaskar Jadhav was elected the party group leader in the state assembly, while Sunil Prabhu was named the party’s chief whip.

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Maharashtra

The Election Commission Should Take Immediate Action Against IPS Officer Rashmi Shukla: Atul Londhe

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Mumbai, November 25: IPS officer Rashmi Shukla violated the Model Code of Conduct by meeting Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis while the code of conduct was still in force. The Election Commission must take this matter seriously and initiate immediate action against Rashmi Shukla, demanded Atul Londhe, Chief Spokesperson of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.

Commenting on the issue, Atul Londhe said that in Telangana, the Election Commission had promptly acted against a Director General of Police and another senior official for meeting a senior minister during elections. “Why does the Election Commission act swiftly in non-BJP-ruled states but fail to notice such violations in BJP-ruled states?” he questioned.

Rashmi Shukla faces serious allegations, including phone tapping of opposition leaders. The Congress had earlier demanded her removal from the post of Director General of Police during the election period, and she was subsequently removed. However, despite the declaration of assembly results, Rashmi Shukla met the Home Minister before the Model Code of Conduct officially ended, violating its norms. Londhe insisted that immediate action should be taken against her.

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Maharashtra

‘I Haven’t Resigned Yet,’ Says Maharashtra Congress Chief Nana Patole Amid Rumours Of Quitting Post After Poll Debacle

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Maharashtra Congress president and newly elected MLA from the Sakoli Assembly seat, Nana Patole, denied media reports about his resignation from the post of party chief in the state.

Speaking to the media, Patole said, “I am going to meet Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. I have not submitted my resignation.”

Earlier it was reported that after the crushing defeat of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections, Nana Patole offered to resign as Congress state president, taking moral responsibility for the loss. However, conflicting reports claim that Patole has not yet made a final decision, and there has been no confirmation from him or the party regarding his resignation.

The ruling Mahayuti coalition secured a resounding victory, winning 235 seats with 49.6% of the vote share, while the MVA lagged far behind with just 49 seats and 35.3% of the votes. The Congress, in particular, suffered a major setback, winning only 16 of the 103 seats it contested.

Patole, who contested from the Sakoli seat, narrowly retained his position with a margin of just 208 votes—the smallest margin of his political career. This is a sharp contrast to his 2019 Assembly election performance, where he won the same seat by nearly 8,000 votes. His narrow victory this year ranks among the closest contests in the state.

Patole reportedly sought to meet Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on Monday to discuss his resignation but was unable to do so. The party high command has not yet acted on his reported resignation.

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