Gehlot has presented the dream budget, now it has to be seen whether the public fulfills his dream?

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has presented his dream budget in the assembly in the election year. This is the last budget of this tenure of the Gehlot government. Elections to the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly are to be held at the end of this year. In such a situation, it is only natural for the budget to be popular. In his budget, Gehlot has left no stone unturned to make the budget popular. While Gehlot has opened a box of reliefs in the budget to woo the voters, he has also announced many new schemes for the common man.

It is the whole effort of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to break the myth of change of government every time in Rajasthan. Keeping this in mind, Gehlot has left no stone unturned to woo the common voters of the state through the budget. Even before the budget came, Chief Minister Gehlot had announced that the entire focus of his budget this time would be on youth and women. Which is being seen in the budget. In the budget, Gehlot has not deprived any section of the society from giving relief.

Ashok Gehlot is going to complete his 15-year term as the Chief Minister for the third time. At the same time, as the Finance Minister, he has presented the budget of Rajasthan for the tenth time. This time Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has made the record of giving the longest speech in the state by giving budget speech continuously for 3 hours and 20 minutes. In this budget, he has given a big gift to the employees by announcing that all the employees of the Rajasthan government will be included in the old pension scheme.

The old pension scheme was announced in the last budget. But in that about one lakh government employees working in various boards, corporations, commissions, universities and other institutions of the state government were deprived. By including all of them in the old pension scheme this time, all the employees of the Rajasthan government have come under the purview of the old pension scheme. This was a long-standing demand of the employees, which has been fulfilled by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and completely integrated the employees with him. The benefits of which he is seeing in the coming assembly elections.

Two years ago, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot launched the Chief Minister Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme in Rajasthan. In which provision was made to provide cashless treatment facility to all the people of the state. Gehlot has extended the same scheme this time and announced to provide free treatment up to Rs 25 lakh to every family in the state. The family involved in this scheme will also get the benefit of accident insurance up to ten lakh rupees. This is a unique scheme in the whole country. In which all the BPL, Annapurna Yojana, contract workers, NREGA workers, small farmers and many families of the state participate free of cost. While all other underprivileged families can also join this scheme by paying an annual fee of Rs.850. Such scheme is not running in any other province of the country. Till now lakhs of people have got free treatment under this scheme.

Chief Minister Gehlot has also announced 50 percent concession in fare for women in government roadways buses in the Rajasthan border. Eight thousand Anganwadis and 2000 mini Anganwadi centers will be opened in the state. On the lines of school children from classes 1 to 8, the children of Anganwadi centers will also be given two sets of uniforms. Five lakh new families will be linked with women self-help groups. School children will now get milk every day in the mid-day meal.

Indira Gandhi Working Women Hostels will be opened for 100 women at divisional headquarters and 50 women at district headquarters. At the same time, 500 Priyadarshini Day Care Centers will be opened for working women. Indira Gandhi Women’s Hostel will be opened for women in rural areas also. 18 girls colleges will be opened in the state. 250 Maa-Wadi centers will be opened in tribal areas. The old age pension has also been increased to Rs 1000 per month in the state. The Gehlot government of Rajasthan will take the senior citizens of the state to visit five new pilgrimage sites including the Ram Lalla temple in Ayodhya. These darshans will be done under the Senior Citizens Pilgrimage Scheme. Under this scheme, at present darshan is being done at 14 pilgrimage sites in the country and abroad, which is now being increased to more than 20.

Domestic electricity consumers will now be given 100 units per month free of cost instead of 50. Domestic consumers using electricity more than this will continue to get exemption as per tariff. On the other hand, farmers will be given free electricity up to 2000 units per month on tubewells built in their fields. 12 domestic gas cylinders will be provided at the rate of Rs 500 in a year to 76 lakh families of Rajasthan included in the Ujjwala scheme.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has given a lot to the youth this time in the budget of the Rajasthan government. The biggest relief has been given to the candidates who have given the competitive exam. It has been decided to make all recruitment examinations free. For this one time registration has to be done. This decision will benefit more than 50 lakh candidates. Along with this, digital library and residential hostels will also be built for the youth preparing for competitive exams. The biggest announcement is for the students from 1st to 12th. They will be taught free of cost.

Examination centers with online facility will be set up in all the districts. Attendance will now be done through biometric technology in competitive exams. Residential hostels along with study centers will be set up at the district headquarters for the preparation of competitive exams. 100 youths will be able to stay together in this. Savitri Bai reading room and digital library will be set up at block headquarters in Rajasthan. Transport voucher scheme will be started in government schools. Under this, children will be able to travel free of cost in roadways buses from home to school and from school to home up to 75 kilometers.

The demand to make private vehicles toll free has not been fulfilled in the budget presented by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. People have hope that while passing the budget, the Chief Minister will take action on that too. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is looking very confident these days. Recently he has said that he will never retire from politics. Which indicates that whenever the Congress government is formed, he will be the Chief Minister in the state. Gehlot is confident that the people of the state will form the Congress government again next time being happy with the budget presented by him. Now it has to be seen how much Gehlot’s thinking becomes real. The people of the state either form the Congress government next time or defeat the Congress. This thing will be known only after the results of the elections. However, Chief Minister Gehlot is playing his political innings indiscriminately.

Ramesh Sarraf Dhamora

(The author is a freelance journalist accredited by the Government of Rajasthan. His articles continue to be published in many newspapers of the country.)