PUNE: The Maharashtra government is implementing schemes like Ladki Bahin Yojana but is doing nothing about the continuous rise in crimes against women, NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar said here on Thursday.

Addressing a poll rally In Hadapsar for his party candidate Prashant Jagtap, Pawar said 67,381 complaints have been registered by women in the past two years alleging harassment. “This is happening in Maharashtra, the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Savitribai Phule and Jijamata. 

Under the BJP-led government, five complaints are being filed every hour related to crimes against women. The Maharashtra government has reported that 64,000 women and girls are currently missing,” he said. “Is this situation befitting a state like Maharashtra? But those in power do not seem to be concerned. In Nagpur, some 13,000 girls are missing,” he added. Nagpur is the home district of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio in the Eknath Shinde government.

“If 13,000 girls are missing in the home minister’s own city, can we entrust them with the reins of the state? They introduce schemes for ‘ladki bahin’ (sisters and daughters), but on the other, atrocities against women are increasing. Such a situation is unacceptable for Maharashtra,” Pawar asserted. He also said farmers were distressed in Maharashtra. “Some 20,000 farmers have committed suicides in the tenure of this government. In last six months, 1267 farmers have committed suicide. Farmers suicide take place across the country but Maharashtra tops the chart,” he said.