When Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot presented the 2022-’23 Budget last year, the question was how he would improve upon the many populist measures in the following one. In his address spanning three hours last year, Gehlot barely left any sector or demographic untouched. Among the big ticket schemes were the Indira Gandhi Shehri Rozgar Guarantee Yojana for urban areas, along the lines of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for rural areas. Gehlot said Covid had affected the people’s livelihoods. “While MGNREGA assists people in rural areas, there is no such scheme for street vendors, as well as those working at dhabas and restaurants in urban areas,” Gehlot said, announcing the urban employment scheme. Under this scheme, employment is provided for up to 100 in a year and the state government set aside Rs 800 crore for this. The scheme has since been implemented but has failed to pick up pace. The second big announcement, and perhaps with more electoral benefit for Gehlot and the Congress, was implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for those appointed after January 1, 2004. Gehlot said that contributory pension under the National Pension Scheme for those who joined after January 1, 2004, might have been announced to reduce the financial burden because of pension, yet it had led to insecurity among government employees. “We want them to feel secure so that they can contribute towards good governance,” Gehlot said, announcing the OPS. Since then, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh have informed the Central government’s Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) about their decision to restart OPS; the scheme is also said to have contributed to the Congress’s return to power in Himachal Pradesh in December. Additionally, Gehlot announced in his last Budget speech an increase of man-days under MGNREGS from 100 to 125 days, at the cost of Rs 750 crore to the state exchequer. There was special focus on agriculture too, with the CM presenting its Budget separately, highlighting 11 areas within the sector to be taken up on “mission mode”. Next, with the state still reeling from Covid-19, Gehlot increased the insurance money under Chiranjeevi Yojana from Rs 5 lakh to 10 lakh per family, annually, and announced the inclusion of additional free services for medical procedures such as cochlear implant, bone marrow transplant, organ transplant and diseases such as bone cancer. A slab-wise relief to domestic consumers of electricity was also announced. Among other populist schemes, Gehlot announced mobile phones for women heads of 1.33 crore families who are covered under the Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Yojana. These smartphones would have internet connectivity for three years and the government would annually bear Rs 2,500 crore for this, the CM announced. However, no mobiles have been given under the scheme as yet. In a post-Budget press conference, Gehlot said last year that every section of the society had been covered. Now, as he gets ready to present his last Budget before the state goes to polls later this year, Gehlot is certainly expected to come out with an even more populist Budget, if his statements are anything to go by.
