New Delhi: A day after the Rajasthan Assembly passed the Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, 2023, chief minister Ashok Gehlot said that his government is committed to provide social security as a matter of Right. Gehlot said that by passing the minimum guaranteed income bill, the Rajasthan government has provided a unique development model to the country and hopes that similar laws will also be passed in other states to bring every citizen of the country into the social security net.
“There is a difference between a law and an administrative order. The minimum guaranteed income bill makes social security a right. The minimum guaranteed income law is historic as it is perhaps the first time since independence that social security measures like pension or minimum days of work have been brought under the ambit of rights,” Gehlot said on Saturday, July 22.
The law guarantees 125 days of work for all families of the state and a minimum of Rs 1,000 as a pension to the elderly, women, widows, and disabled people, with the provision of a 15% increment every year. The Bill brings the rural employment guarantee scheme, the urban employment guarantee scheme, and the pension scheme under one legislation that will be implemented under the Mahatma Gandhi Minimum Income Guarantee Scheme. The Bill was passed in the assembly on Friday through a voice vote.
Addressing the press earlier on Saturday, he said that the law is along the lines of similar social security cover for citizens of developed nations like the US, England, Germany, and other European countries. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, “In India, we haven’t seen such a law. Our Prime Minister claims to be Vishwaguru. I want to ask him what he is doing about problems like hunger, malnourishment, and unemployment in India. Why is not making social security a right for 140 crore Indians, a figure he often likes to cite?”
Gehlot said that the law was merely a start, and if elected again his government will move forward in the direction to provide social security cover to all in the state. “Most state governments provide very poor sums for the pension scheme. The union government gives Rs 200 as a pension to the elderly and Rs 300 if the claimant is above 80 years. Tell me does this amount even qualify as any financial support? That is why we have made Rs 1,000 as the minimum support to the pensioners,” he said, adding that all subsequent governments in the state will have to abide by the provisions of the law.
The law has come months ahead of the next assembly polls. Gehlot hoped that the law and other such pro-poor measures will help it win the elections again. “Those who talk about revdi (freebies) culture are distributing revdis in the states that they govern. The law is not a revdi, but a right,” Gehlot said, hitting out at the BJP.
“Rajasthan is a progressive state. Rajasthan was also the first state to implement Right to Information, Right to Health, and the Minimum Employment Guarantee Act before it became national laws,” the Congress chief minister said. He added that the new law will be financed from the improved financial health of the state under his leadership. “We have not introduced any new tax. Instead, our revenues have increased by 17%. Our fiscal deficit has also come down from 9.25% from the time of the BJP government to around 3% now.”
Gehlot said he was waiting for the governor to approve the law, and hopes to frame the rules and have the law implemented by August 15, 2023.
He said that the BJP’s allegations of such a law becoming a burden to the state’s exchequer is untrue, as is the saffron party’s campaign about the deteriorating law and order situation in Rajasthan.
“If you look at the NCRB figures, the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh is at the top in the list of crimes against women. Gujarat is ranked the No.1 in cases of custodial deaths. Uttar Pradesh is No.1 in cases of murders and kidnapping. Rajasthan is way below in the list,” Gehlot said, adding that the hike in some of the crimes in Rajasthan is because of the fact that his government made registering FIRs compulsory.
“The increase in figures of different crimes has happened because now common people can get cases registered easily,” he said.
Gehlot said that the BJP should answer why Modi could not deliver on his promise of generating 2 crore jobs every year. “Today he is himself giving appointment letters to 80,000 people to generate publicity. No one can compete with Modi ji in marketing. He came to Sikar and said that he is spending Rs 20000 crore in direct benefit transfer to 9 crore people. All of it is marketing. The Rajasthan government spends Rs 12000 crore in subsidising electricity alone. Our pension scheme is worth around Rs 12-13000 crore,” the Rajasthan chief minister said.
