One Maharashtra, Unequal Priorities

Six decades after statehood, constitutional safeguards remain necessary to bridge the gap between western Maharashtra and the regions left behind. Maharashtra is often referred to as India’s economic engine. The state, which is home to Mumbai’s financial ecosystem and Pune’s industrial corridor, contributes about 14 percent to the GDP of India. There is a long-standing dispute behind this achievement that has affected state politics for decades. Is every district in Maharashtra thriving at...

min read

Six decades after statehood, constitutional safeguards remain necessary to bridge the gap between western Maharashtra and the regions left behind. Maharashtra is often referred to as India’s economic engine. The state, which is home to Mumbai’s financial ecosystem and Pune’s industrial corridor, contributes about 14 percent to the GDP of India. There is a long-standing dispute behind this achievement that has affected state politics for decades. Is every district in Maharashtra thriving at the same pace? It is not just a political question. It is written into the Constitution proper. Unlike most states in India, Maharashtra has a unique constitutional provision under Article 371(2) which empowers the Governor to ensure that development funding and opportunities are equally shared between Vidarbha, Marathwada and the rest of Maharashtra. The clause was born out of fears that some areas would be forgotten once the state was established in 1960. Six decades later, the existence of this constitutional safeguard raises an uncomfortable question: why does Maharashtra need tools to balance regional development still? Regional Disparity The seeds of regional disparity were sown long before the birth of Maharashtra. Western Maharashtra had early investments in irrigation, cooperative sugar mills, educational institutions and transportation. The centres of industrial growth followed by agricultural commercialisation were Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and part of Nashik. Vidarbha and Marathwada chose the other. Agriculture was still heavily dependent on monsoon rains, industrialization was slow and irrigation coverage was less than the state averages. Regional studies in Maharashtra have repeatedly shown that irrigation intensity and agricultural yield are higher in western districts than in much of eastern Maharashtra. These differences subsequently led to calls for institutional safeguards. In contrast, in western Maharashtra, government moves are increasingly geared towards growth, not deficit reduction. The region’s success is built on industrial corridors, logistics infrastructure, urban mobility projects and advanced manufacturing clusters. Pune has emerged as a hub for vehicles, computer technology, defence production and startups. Mumbai remains a major draw for investment in metro rail networks, coastal roadways, financial services infrastructure and international business zones. Agricultural practices in western Maharashtra are in a relatively advanced stage of development. Irrigation coverage is much better than many districts in the east, so the authorities can concentrate on raising productivity, export-oriented, value-added farming and agro-processing industries. Western Maharashtra’s policy, in a nutshell, is to make competitive regions more competitive. Eastern Maharashtra is very different. Here, the Governments have not only focused on accelerating growth but also on reducing the backlog of development. The main policy question is irrigation. For many decades official studies have consistently identified irrigation as the most important factor for regional disparities. Even with dedicated funds, the backlog of irrigation in Vidarbha and Marathwada kept growing, requiring repeated interventions by successive governments. To tackle this, region-specific irrigation corporations, such as Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) and Godavari Marathwada Irrigation Development Corporation (GMIDC) were established with a specific mandate to speed up water infrastructure projects. The Union Government has sanctioned a special irrigation package for Vidarbha, Marathwada and draught prone areas of Maharashtra, with an objective to increase irrigation potential and improve water security of the farmers. Even today, a lot of public money is spent on irrigation projects in eastern Maharashtra. Government affidavits and parliamentary replies say crores of rupees are spent every year to make up for irrigation shortfalls and to finish long-pending projects. This emphasis reflects an important reality: while the western part of Maharashtra talks about competitiveness, the eastern part of Maharashtra continues to debate water access. Another area where there are divergent approaches is industrial policy. Market forces have played a major role in the industrial expansion of western Maharashtra, a process assisted by the existing infrastructure and urbanization. In contrast, Eastern Maharashtra has frequently depended on state-led interventions to draw investment to lagging regions. Projects such as the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN), logistics corridors, special industrial incentives and infrastructure subsidies were to divert industrial expansion away from the Mumbai-Pune region. Likewise, recent government announcements have earmarked Vidarbha to become a future hub for solar energy, semiconductors, aerospace manufacturing and logistics, with Marathwada being pitched for electric vehicle and electronics investments. Whereas in western Maharashtra, the policy tends to buttress pre-existing advantages, in eastern Maharashtra the industrial policy aims to generate such advantages from the beginning. Regional Equilibrium These divisions have persisted, leading to separate institutions of governance. Vidarbha and Marathwada have statutory development boards to monitor regional imbalances and recommend corrective actions. Their emergence is an indication of a broader acceptance that market forces alone have not been adequate to promote balanced growth in Maharashtra. The second capital of Maharashtra is also Nagpur. The same ideology. The state legislature meets every winter in eastern Maharashtra to ensure that the issues concerning the region remain in the political focus. The issues discussed generally are irrigation, agriculture, tribal welfare and regional development in these sessions. The controversy over regional equity, however, is still unresolved. According to critics, despite decades of special packages and focused strategies, many irrigation projects continue to face delays, cost overruns and implementation problems. Several big projects in Vidarbha remain incomplete despite years of cash pledges. There is now a growing body of policy thinking that suggests that Maharashtra may have to give up the very terminology of backlog elimination. In its own discussion on balanced regional development, the state attaches more importance to reforms in governance, diversification of the economy and speeding up growth, than to compensatory spending. The challenge is not just building canals and roadways anymore but building lasting economic ecosystems that can hold on to talent, draw investment and create jobs beyond the traditional Mumbai-Pune boom corridor. The real test for Maharashtra will be whether future policies can turn Vidarbha and Marathwada from regions requiring special support to regions capable of driving growth on their own. Till then Maharashtra’s development story will be two stories. (The author is a columnist and climate researcher with experience in political research analysis and energy policy. Views personal.)

Nasrapur’s Lost Child

Abhijit Joshi
May 8
4 min read

The rape and murder of a four-year-old girl has left Maharashtra grieving and demanding accountability from a system that failed to stop a known offender.

She was only four years old. She was spending her summer holidays at her grandmother’s house in Nasrapur, a quiet village in the Bhor area of Pune district. She liked playing outside. On the afternoon of May 1, 2026, a 65-year-old man from the same village walked up to her and said he would show her a calf. She smiled and followed him. She never came back. What happened next in a cattle shed nearby is too painful to describe in full. The man — identified by police as Bhimrao Prabhakar Kamble — sexually assaulted the little girl, killed her, and hid her body under a pile of cow dung.

Repeat Offender

CCTV footage from a camera outside a neighbour’s house recorded Kamble walking away with the child. By the time the child was found, it was too late. The doctors said she had already passed away. Kamble was found near a river in the village. He said he had done nothing. But the camera had told the truth. The police arrested him the same evening. He was sent to police custody by a Pune court. Here is something deeply troubling about this case. Bhimrao Kamble was not a first-time offender. He was accused of molestation in 1998. A court let him go. In 2015, he was accused again — this time of harming a young girl.

He was let go again. In 2019, a court acquitted him in a case involving his own niece. Each time he walked free, he came back to live in the same village. Nobody was keeping a close eye on him. No one warned the village. And the little girl’s family had no way of knowing that this man, their neighbour, had harmed children before. When the news spread across Nasrapur and then across Maharashtra, people were heartbroken — and furious.

Hundreds of villagers came out on the streets. They blocked the busy Pune-Satara Highway (also part of the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway) for hours through the night. On May 2, a complete shutdown (bandh) was called in Nasrapur. All shops and schools remained closed. The next day, a bandh was observed across the Bhor and Rajgad tehsils as well. Protestors carried signs and slogans demanding the death penalty for the accused. They wanted justice — and they wanted it fast. The little girl’s last rites were held late at night, after midnight, under police protection. The child’s father, a Hindu priest, recorded a video message that went around on social media. In it, he said he did not want to meet any politician. He had only one request: that the accused be given the death penalty through a fair trial. He said no politician should visit their home until justice was given to his daughter.

Swift Justice

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called the crime deeply saddening and said it was “highly shameful.” He announced that the case would be tried in a fast-track court, which means the trial will move much faster than a normal court case. He also said a special public prosecutor — a lawyer hired just for this case by the government — would be appointed to make sure the accused gets the strongest punishment possible.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar said, as a mother, she could feel the pain of the victim’s family. She promised the government would not rest until the family got justice. BJP legislator Chitra Wagh said the incident had shaken society and that the fight for justice must continue till the end. Opposition leaders were sharp in their criticism of the government. NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule called the crime “inhuman.” She questioned how a man who had committed similar crimes twice before was ever given bail. She also pointed out that the Maharashtra Women’s Commission does not currently have a chairperson, asking: “Where are we supposed to go to ask for justice?” She demanded the case be heard in a fast-track court and that the accused be given the death penalty.

Slanging Match

Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar targeted the Home Ministry and said the “fear of the law has vanished” under the present government. He called for a complete overhaul of how children are kept safe. NCP-SP’s Rohit Pawar also questioned how a known repeat offender was free to roam around the village without any police watch.

The National Commission for Women took up the case on its own and asked the government to file a chargesheet quickly under the POCSO Act. The Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights also stepped in, asking the government to appoint a special public prosecutor and move the case to a fasttrack court. The Pune rural police have set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of six officers, including two women police officers. Keeping children safe is not just a job for the police. It is the responsibility of every adult in a community — teachers, neighbours, grandparents, shop owners. If any adult behaves strangely around children, that should be reported immediately.

Children themselves must know that if any grown-up makes them feel scared or uncomfortable, they should run to a trusted adult and tell them. There is no shame in speaking up. Speaking up can save a life. The police are working to ensure Bhimrao Kamble faces the full weight of the law. That is necessary. But justice for this little girl also means making sure no child in Nasrapur — or anywhere in Maharashtra or India — ever has to go through what she went through. She deserved to grow up. She deserved to go to school, make friends, and see many more calves in many more summers.

(The writer is a political observer. Views personal.)