Compared to his predecessors, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has been an underperformer in attracting funds for the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. This year, CM Shinde has received only Rs 65.88 crore in contributions for the CM’s Relief Fund. Shinde’s predecessors, Uddhav Thackeray and Devendra Fadnavis, had significantly increased the CM’s Relief Fund during their tenures, revealed the information provided by CM’s secretariat to RTI activist Anil Galgali.

In response to the RTI information sought by Galgali, Sanjay Tambe, assistant accounts officer, CM’s secretariat revealed that the balance as of April 1, 2022 is Rs 418.88 crore and the balance as of March 31, 2023, is Rs 445.22 crore. The CM’s Relief Fund year-wise donation information is available from January 1, 2015 to March 31, 2023. “CM Shinde appears to be lagging behind on the front of CM’s Relief Fund in comparison to Fadnavis and Thackeray during their term as CM,” said Galgali.