Fadnavis writes off Rs 48,000 crore

Mumbai: In a clear indication that the Maharashtra government is leaving no stone unturned to keep the state’s agrarian base happy, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has unleashed yet another massive populist measure. Hot on the heels of relaxing the eligibility criteria to ensure a blanket farm loan waiver, the Chief Minister announced a sweeping Rs 48,000 crore waiver on the pending electricity bills of farmers across the state. Addressing a ‘Krutadnyata Sohala’ (gratitude ceremony)...

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Mumbai: In a clear indication that the Maharashtra government is leaving no stone unturned to keep the state’s agrarian base happy, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has unleashed yet another massive populist measure. Hot on the heels of relaxing the eligibility criteria to ensure a blanket farm loan waiver, the Chief Minister announced a sweeping Rs 48,000 crore waiver on the pending electricity bills of farmers across the state. Addressing a ‘Krutadnyata Sohala’ (gratitude ceremony) organized by the BJP Kisan Morcha at Mumbai’s Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishthan on Wednesday, Fadnavis declared that farmers using agricultural pumps of up to 7.5 horsepower will see their historical electricity dues completely wiped out. The announcement was met with the traditional sounding of the Tutari and thunderous applause from hundreds of farmers who had gathered from every corner of the state. The Chief Minister framed the mega-sop as a necessary step to “wipe the farmers’ slate clean,” enabling them to write a new chapter of prosperity. Calculated Pitch The timing and scale of the announcement underscore a government that is boldly embracing populist economics to solidify its political footprint in rural Maharashtra. While Fadnavis maintained that these decisions were taken purely in the interest of the farmers—pointing out that the original loan waiver was announced when no elections were in sight—the political undertones were unmistakable. Taking a sharp dig at the opposition, the Chief Minister accused rival parties of running “political shops” in the name of farmer agitations without understanding the government’s genuine intent. Asserting his grassroots connection, Fadnavis proudly claimed, “I do not make decisions sitting in my house. I am a farmer myself, a man of the soil.” He openly defended the government’s recent move to strip away the stringent conditions attached to the blanket farm loan waiver, signaling that his administration will not hesitate to clear bureaucratic hurdles if it means putting money directly into the hands of the rural voter. Balancing Sops Even as he rained freebies, the Chief Minister attempted to balance the populist optics with a dose of economic pragmatism. He acknowledged that handing out repeated loan waivers is a symptom of deep-rooted agrarian distress, not a permanent cure. Pointing to the Rs 95,000 crore in aid currently being pumped into the agricultural sector by the state and central governments, Fadnavis outlined his administration’s shift toward an investment-driven agricultural model. He championed the success of schemes like ‘Jalyukt Shivar’ and ‘Magel Tyala Shettale’ (farm ponds on demand), claiming these initiatives have already empowered farmers to harvest multiple crops a year. Addressing the core issue of farming costs, he noted that the government already subsidises power to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore annually. By coupling this with a push for solar pumps and solar agricultural feeders, he promised that 100 percent of the state’s farmers would receive uninterrupted daytime electricity by the end of the year. Infra Dream Looking beyond immediate financial relief, the Chief Minister laid out a grandiose vision to permanently drought-proof Maharashtra’s most vulnerable regions. A staggering Rs 6 lakh crore infrastructure pipeline is being planned to ensure the next generation never witnesses a drought. Fadnavis detailed ambitious river-linking projects, including the Wainganga-Nalganga link, to divert excess floodwaters to parched regions. The state plans to construct 24 new dams and raise the height of 16 existing ones to ensure not a single district in Vidarbha faces water scarcity. Furthermore, massive engineering feats are on the drawing board to divert 200 TMC of floodwater from Western Maharashtra to Marathwada, and lift 275 TMC of wasted water from the Ulhas basin to quench the thirst of North Maharashtra and Marathwada. By marrying immediate, massive debt relief with long-term infrastructure promises, the Fadnavis administration is aggressively cementing its pro-farmer narrative. As the Yashwantrao Chavan auditorium echoed with whistles and cheers, it became highly evident that the government’s strategy of pairing mega populist waivers with big-ticket rural dreams is striking a powerful chord with the state’s agrarian voters.

IRCTC to unveil new website on July 15

Quaid Najmi
Jun 12
3 min read

Mumbai: A year after ‘The Perfect Voice’ exposed major glitches with financial implications on the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)’s website, the Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has finally cracked the whip.

Responding to live questions from some young students in a Jaipur college, Vaishnaw assured that a new, revamped and efficient IRCTC website is expected to be unveiled on July 15.

The Minister’s assurance came when students of Malviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) expressed concerns over the poor functioning of the existing website making it difficult to book tickets or get other online services. One female student bluntly complained about the frustrating ‘captcha’ process particularly during Tatkal ticket bookings.

As she stood beside him, Vaishnaw called up a concerned officer in his ministry and asked how long would it take to rectify all the problems. The official assured that a new IRCTC website could be operational within 30 days and the Minister gave him a target date of July 15.

A triumphant Vaishnaw smiled at the student and said “we will launch the new website by July 15” as the gathering acknowledged his quick solution to a lingering problem with a thunderous round of applause.

Slow Website

For years, passengers have complained about the slow or unresponsive IRCTC website during bookings, precious time lost in repeated ‘captchas’, frozen pages with delay in refreshing, or dead payment gateways. By the time the passengers struggled to complete the processes, tickets were sold out adding to their frustrations and leaving them at the mercy of ticketing touts.

Officials say now there is likelihood of a swank, speedy, multilingual, user-friendly platform capable of handling around 1.50 lakh bookings and over 40-lakh inquiries per minute. The features expected include better trains, classes or seat-selection tools, fare calendars, enhanced accessibility for categories like senior citizens, disabled, students and medical patients with a speedy process as promised.

‘The Perfect Voice’ had first highlighted the issue (May 16, 2025) after certain RTI disclosures revealed staggering sums collected by the IRCTC from passengers as ‘Convenience Fees’ (CFs), raising a huge storm in Indian Railway circles.

As per the RTI replies to Pune-based businessman Prafful Sarda, the IRCTC mopped up a staggering Rs 2,619-cr as CFs in just three FYs – 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 – and also separate charges for bookings made through BHIM or other UPI.

Even more shocking was the admission that the massive amounts are utilized for “the upkeep, maintenance and running” of the website.

“Why did it take a year for the government to wake up to such a serious matter? If they were collecting over Rs 2,600-cr for maintaining and operating the website, then why do passengers still battle for a simple process like e-ticket bookings? Strangely, the Minister made the announcement only after some students publicly raised the matter,” Sarda told ‘The Perfect Voice’ on Friday.

IRCTC - Don of IR’s e-ticketing

The IRCTC’s data reveals that it controls almost 83 pc of IR’s e-ticketing market and the rest is shared by other portals, authorized agents, etc. Yet the complaints pertaining to peak hour or season server overloads, delayed responses, payment failures and inaccessibility remained unsolved.

Council for Protection of Rights (CPR) President Barrister Vinod Tiwari had described the IRCTC’s stupendous CFs collections as “criminal loot” in the guise of website maintenance expenses and even demanded an independent investigation by a central agency.

After the expose by ‘The Perfect Voice’, official sources said that an internal probe was initiated, a new website, RailOne was launched, and several political leaders across parties had raised the matter in different forums, yet millions of passengers continued to suffer.