MUMBAI: The government presented supplementary demands of Rs 24,723 crore in the legislature on Monday, earmarking the largest chunk, Rs 15,000 crore, for the crop loan waiver scheme. Supplementary demands are additional expenditures that are not part of the main budget. The amount presented by the MVA government is one of the highest in recent years and will further widen the state’s fiscal deficit, which, according to the finance department’s estimates, will be over Rs 90,000 crore by the end of the current financial year.Of the total supplementary demands, Rs 18,719 crore will be spent towards planned works and the rest towards committed works. Monday saw the release of the first list of crop loan waiver beneficiaries under the scheme: the list contains 15,358 eligible farmers from 68 villages across the state; disbursals will be made to their loan accounts within two days. “This is a trial list. We took a small number to test the procedure set up for the scheme. If the process proves to be smooth, the second list which will be released on February 28. It will be a much longer list,” said revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat (Congress).Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena), on video conference, asked at least two beneficiaries per district if they faced issues availing of the scheme. Officials said information on 34.8 lakh farmers’ accounts has been obtained by the state and details of another 1.61 lakh accounts is expected. Under the scheme — officially called Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Shetkari Karjmukti Yojana — which was announced by the MVA government in December 2019, crop loans of up to Rs 2 lakh outstanding till September 30, 2019, will be waived off. The scheme was Thackeray’s pet poll plank and is his government’s biggest welfare scheme yet.Of the Rs 15,000 crore the government has budgeted as part of supplementary demands, Rs 10,000 crore will be used to recoup an advance drawn from the contingency fund for the scheme. The government had taken a decision to dip into the contingency fund to be able to pay for the scheme. The remaining Rs 5,000 crore has been budgeted to be used under the scheme till the next budget comes into effect from April 1 onwards.Apart from loan waiver, Rs 16.2 crore will be spent on welfare schemes for the next of kin of farmers who committed suicide, Rs 3,523 crore has been earmarked for the revenue and forests department, and an equal amount for projects under the public works department.Also, Rs 6.5 crore will go towards the Shiv Bhojan scheme, which is aimed at providing a meal to the poor for just Rs 10. For the urban development department, Rs 679 crore has been budgeted, including Rs 103 crore for the Pune Metro.