Eyeing another term as CM, Ashok Gehlot pitches ‘inflation relief’ camps

“My heart says that we have served you so much…Schemes are closed once the government changes…This time you repeat the government. We will strengthen all these schemes that we have brought and will also launch new schemes. This is my promise to you,” Gehlot told a rally at Mahapura in Jaipur district after launching the inflation relief camps.

Over 2,500 inflation relief camps will run across the state till June 30, which are envisaged to connect the labharthis (beneficiaries) to the Gehlot government’s 10 flagship welfare schemes upon registration.

These schemes include gas cylinder for Rs 500, 100 units of electricity free per month for domestic consumers, 2,000 units of electricity free per month for agricultural consumers, Annapurna Food Packets for NFSA beneficiaries, additional employment of 25 days under the MNREGS along with additional employment of 100 days for special groups, opportunity to work for 125 days in a year under the Indira Gandhi Shahari Rojgar Guarantee Yojana, minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month and an increase of 15% every year under the Social Security Pension Scheme, increased limit of Rs 25 lakh under the Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojana, increased amount of Rs 10 lakh for accidental insurance, and insurance cover of Rs 40,000 per cattle for two milch cattle under the Mukhyamantri Kamdhenu Pashu Bima Yojana.

After free registration for these 10 schemes at any of the inflation relief camps, the eligible beneficiaries would be provided the Mukhyamantri Guarantee Cards on the spot, certifying that they will receive all the benefits under these schemes.

“Just now news has come in that across the state, 1.63 lakh people have already received the Mukhyamantri Guarantee Card. Such a programme is nowhere in the country,” said Gehlot.

While most of these schemes were announced in the state budgets in the past few years, the ruling Congress believes that the Mehangai Rahat camps would be an “effective platform” for the Gehlot government to send out the message to the public about its “considerable work” done in the last four years besides adding more beneficiaries to these schemes.

Gehlot’s emphasis on the welfare schemes had however not yielded electoral dividends for the Congress in his previous term, when the party was decimated in the 2013 Assembly elections. Gehlot had then banked on his government’s free medicine scheme, making it his key poll plank. However, the BJP swept the polls, with the Congress’s tally plunging to just 21 seats in the 200-member Assembly, its worst-ever performance in the state, which Gehlot attributed to Narendra Modi’s popularity, who was then the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate.

Addressing the gathering Monday, Gehlot said, “I am no maharaja or raja. I have come from among you. I got your blessings, I could become a chief minister for the third time. It happens in very few instances in the country when one becomes chief minister for third time,” even as his supporters chanted the slogan “Chauthi Baar Gehlot Sarkar (Gehlot government for the fourth time)”.

Gehlot has often rued the fact in his public meetings that despite rolling out welfare schemes, he could not return to power in the 2003 and 2013 Assembly polls, with the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP ousting the Congress from power both times.

In the run-up to the upcoming polls, Gehlot is again leaving no stone unturned in his attempts to retain power by banking on a slew of his welfare measures, which range from bringing back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to passing the Right to Health legislation, to setting up inflation relief camps now.