Key Points

It said the government was neither waiving the loans of farmers nor was it paying the contractors their long-pending dues, and the pressure of loan repayment, the stress of the creditors' demands, has put farmers and government contractors in a life-threatening dilemma.

The Thackeray camp in the party mouthpiece 'Saamana' slammed the state government for making loud claims about the growth story, saying, "Is this Maharashtra on the path of progress?"

According to the Thackeray camp, two months ago, a contractor in Jalgaon, out of despair, attempted self-immolation in front of the Chief Minister's convoy. "When Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was on a tour in Wardha, a contractor also attempted suicide there. At that time, the Deputy Chief Minister had said, 'I will not allow contractors to commit suicide.' However, contractors Harshal Patil and P.V. Verma chose death to save themselves," the editorial said.

"The MahYuti leaders are talking big, but since the government's coffers are in trouble, all that talk is turning into nothing. In the meantime, the indebted farmers and contractors are dying. The rulers have looted the government treasury to win the elections. Therefore, today, the government treasury is in trouble, and the politicians are killing time. The politicians, who say they will not leave the farmers and contractors in the lurch, are actually not helping them," alleged the Shiv Sena(UBT).

The editorial mentions that numerous small and big government contractors in the state are in despair due to the lack of clearance of their bills and the hassles they have to undergo. Despite all this, they are not getting anything in return. "The amount payable by the government to these contractors for the works they have completed is not a small amount, but a whopping Rs 89,000 crore," claims Saamana.

"Drums are being beaten every day that Maharashtra is on the path of progress. But Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis is not in the top five in the list of the best Chief Ministers in the country. In the state, even people who were wealthy and financially secure till yesterday have started committing suicide. The fact that a big government contractor from Nagpur, P.V. Verma, also committed suicide due to unpaid bills worth crores to the government is shocking. This has once again tarnished the picture of Maharashtra, which is projected to be on the path of progress," said the editorial.

"Just two days ago, Chief Minister Fadnavis announced the signing of MoUs of about Rs 34,000 to Rs 35,000 crore worth of investment. However, Maharashtra has already become infamous due to the increasing suicides of farmers. Now, the MahaYuti government has created a situation wherein the government contractors are committing suicide. A Nagpur-based government contractor, P.V. Verma, hanged himself due to an inordinate delay in clearing his bill of Rs 40 crore from the government. In July, Harshal Patil, a young contractor from Sangli district, ended his life after not receiving the bill of Rs 1.40 crore from the government despite repeated demands. Now the same thing has happened again in Nagpur," said the editorial.

The editorial added that "Harshal Patil of Sangli was a contractor for the government's much-vaunted scheme 'Jal Jeevan Mission', while Verma was a contractor for public works. His government works were going on in different parts of Gondia and Vidarbha, including Nagpur. With no ray of hope in sight, they had to take extreme measures. The government is responsible for the sufferings of the debt-ridden government contractors, as faced by the debt-ridden farmers in the state."

- IANS