A day after Congress leader Sachin Pilot sat on a dharna demanding action in corruption cases under previous BJP governments, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the state has been quite active and has arrested a few civil servants too. Asked by The Indian Express that "his former deputy has stated that there has been no effective action in corruption cases of previous governments”, the CM said: “Do you know that (when compared to) the entire country, the number of raids by anti-corruption department here (is higher); many people, including four-five IAS, IPS officers, have been caught. Has this happened anywhere in India?” Addressing a press conference at his residence here, he said: “If you carry out more raids, people with negative thinking will say there is a lot of corruption so raids are being carried out. So, (if) you don’t carry out raids, would that mean there is no corruption? Hence this thinking is wrong.” CM #AshokGehlot @ashokgehlot51 responds to our question on @SachinPilot's demand for action in corruption cases. Listen in: pic.twitter.com/Ce0XWyv867 — Hamza Khan (@Hamzwa) April 12, 2023 On Tuesday, Pilot sat on a five-hour symbolic protest demanding action in corruption cases during the two tenures of former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Focus on Mehengai Rahat Camps Throughout the press conference, the CM skirted other questions on Pilot’s protest and instead focused on the upcoming “Mehengai Rahat Camps” (inflation relief camps) focusing on 10 schemes (see box) from April 24, and his “Mission 2030”, where he aims at making Rajasthan the number one state by 2030. By avoiding questions on Pilot, who left for Delhi late on Tuesday to meet the party high command, the CM attempted to give an impression that he is unperturbed by the protest, that it is business as usual and that people's welfare is his sole priority. In another question on Pilot’s comments, Gehlot said: “Our aim is mehengai rahat (inflation relief). We are proceeding with one aim, mehengai rahat. Apart from that, our attention doesn’t go right or left, nor will it go.” The upcoming camps will be a “massive mass outreach programme for registration in welfare schemes”. Explaining the reasoning behind the camps, Gehlot said when he became the CM for the first time in 1998, he launched the “Mukhyamantri BPL Jeevan Raksha Kosh” at a time when the number of BPL families was huge in Rajasthan. “I have a regret… I quoted it in every meeting that I have come up with this Jeevan Raksha scheme. You will be surprised that when the elections took place in 2002-03, I used to go to meetings and ask people to raise their hands if they knew about this scheme. I used to count the hands, somewhere it was 25, elsewhere only 50 persons, out of thousands,” he said. Hence, the CM said he wants to spread awareness about the ongoing schemes so that every eligible person can avail of the benefits of welfare schemes run by the government. Initially, there will be around 700 camps and these will be scaled up to 2,700 camps. The camps will run until all those who want to register for the schemes have done so, the CM said. "The people of Rajasthan work very hard to raise their economic status, to give the best education and upbringing to their children. But inflation pushes them back and comes in the way of their progress. And if the people don't progress, the state won't progress, the country won't progress,” the CM added.
