Opposition Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have raised question marks over the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's announcement of prize money of Rs 11 crore to the T20 World Cup-winning Indian team, and alleged that by doing so, the government wants to pat itself on the back. The opposition parties said that while they were proud of the cricketers' achievement, there was no need to give Rs 11 crore from the state coffers and asked the chief minister to pay the amount from his own pocket.
Maharashtra assembly leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar on Saturday raised objections over the cash reward to the Indian cricket team and said the money instead could have been used for the farmers or the youths of the state."In the last four months, 1,068 farmers have committed suicide. It would have been good had they given money to the distressed farmers. They gave such a huge sum to the Indian Cricket Team, what was the need? Team India played for the country and not themselves, this is why the streets were flooded to welcome them," Wadettiwar told news agency ANI.
Stating that Maharashtra is already under a debt of Rs 7.92 lakh crore, Wadettiwar said the Shinde government is "busy bringing in money and forming governments.The future of youth is in danger, the farmers are in distress, and they are giving away huge sums of money. Maharashtra is already under a debt of Rs 7.92 lakh crore, and they are going to spend another Rs 1 lakh crore for the Ladli Bahan Yojana. The law and order of the state have gone out of control. The youth have been put at risk because of drugs. They are busy bringing in money and forming governments," Wadettiwar said. CM Shinde made the announcement of Rs 11 crore reward for Indian cricket team at Vidhan Bhavan where four Mumbai players from the team were honored.