Governor's Five Requests to Centre for Maharashtra Development Boards Since 2022: CM Reveals
In a written reply to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis disclosed that the state Governor has made five separate requests to the central government since October 2022 for the reconstitution of the Vidarbha, Marathwada, and Rest of Maharashtra Development Boards. The revelation came in response to a starred question regarding the boards' expiration in April 2020.
The Chief Minister detailed that the Governor sent semi-official letters to the central government on five occasions: October 28, 2022; December 12, 2022; April 9, 2023; August 22, 2024; and December 10, 2025. Additionally, the Governor's Secretary was instructed on May 6, 2026, to follow up with another letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The matter remains pending with the central government.
The three development boards were originally constituted by the Governor on June 25, 1994, with the mandate to assess regional development disparities, evaluate impact of development efforts, recommend expenditure levels during plan periods, and submit annual reports to the Governor for presentation before the state legislature. Their term ended on April 30, 2020.
Since the boards' expiry, the state government has continued to allocate funds to prevent developmental backlogs in these regions. The allocation follows a formula determined by the Governor in 2014 and 2015, with Vidarbha receiving 23.03%, Marathwada 18.75%, and Rest of Maharashtra 58.23% of funds. From 2021-22 to 2026-27, average allocations slightly exceeded the formula: Vidarbha at 25.76% and Marathwada at 18.82%.
Fadnavis also highlighted economic activity in the regions. Between July 2020 and December 2025, Vidarbha registered 1,342,798 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), creating 5.788 million jobs. Marathwada registered 812,382 MSMEs, generating 3.913 million jobs. Job fairs organized between April 2025 and March 2026 in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Amravati, and Nagpur divisions preliminarily selected 8,617, 4,728, and 7,834 candidates respectively.
On infrastructure, the Water Resources Department reported that financial backlogs for irrigation across all districts were cleared by March 2011, while physical backlogs in Vidarbha and Marathwada have been reduced by 94% and 99% respectively. The School Education Department spent 21.33% of its provision for Marathwada and 22.27% for Vidarbha over the past five years.
Despite the boards' non-existence, the government spent Rs 3.05 crore on salaries for their staff. Fadnavis explained that retaining posts is necessary to avoid delays if the central government approves reconstitution in the future. A proposal for 51 temporary posts across the three boards was approved via a government resolution on April 10, 2026.
