CM Gehlot's last budget likely to focus on youth, social welfare schemes

With special emphasis on youth, the last budget of the present Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan is expected to be focused on social welfare schemes to counter inflation, one of the key issues on which the party would contest the assembly elections in 2023.

The budget would also have a reflection of Rahul Gandhi’s suggestions based on the feedback received during his Bharat Jodo Yatra which passed through the state this month.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has already announced that the state government will give 12 cylinders in a year for Rs 500 per cylinder to poor families to reduce the impact of inflation.

During a public rally in the Alwar district before the completion of the Bharat Jodo Yatra’s part in Rajasthan a few days back, Gehlot also said that the government would consider giving kitchen kits.

Also, the state government is expected to make provisions for the protection of the rights of the people working in the gig economy sector, as suggested by Rahul Gandhi – a move that political experts believe will give an edge to the Congress party in polls.

The term gig worker refers to people engaged in temporary work for a certain period or a project.

“Rajasthan will be the first state in the country to bring provisions in the budget, especially for the gig workers aiming to provide legal protection and connect them with welfare programmes,” said a senior official familiar with the development.

The assembly session is starting on January 23.

He added that in July, the state government conducted a sample survey of gig workers to find out about their benefits and challenges.

Political experts believe that gig employment is an emerging sector and providing them with social security will give an edge to Congress in the polls.

An official said that pre-budget meetings have already taken place and feedback from various sections of the society was received.

“Important suggestions from the feedback meetings will be included in the budget,” an official said.

A party leader said that various suggestions were received during Bharat Jodo Yatra in the state and some crucial recommendations based on the feedback were given by Rahul Gandhi to the party’s state unit and the CM and they are likely to be incorporated into the budget.

“One of them is about the welfare of gig workers. Gandhi publicly talked about the plight of people working under gig economy workers such as Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, Ola etc. The budget is expected to have provisions for the welfare of such workers. The CM has already announced to give LPG cylinders, 12 in a year, for Rs 500 per cylinder, to BPL and Ujjawala yojana beneficiaries,” the party leader said.

He said that some of the provisions may include an increase in social security pension.

During a PCC convention held in Jaipur on Wednesday, a resolution was passed with the suggestions to be included in the budget.

The chief minister said that this will act as a ground for the budget.

He said that looking to the assembly elections later in 2023, the budget will be populist with a particular focus on social welfare schemes.

Gehlot recently said that the budget will be focused on youth and social welfare. He said that a separate budget for farmers was presented last year and this time, the budget will be youth centric apart from making provisions for the welfare of people.

Last year, the chief minister announced the revival of the old pension scheme for state government employees which has been implemented. Also, the amount under Chiranjeevi health insurance scheme was doubled from Rs 5 lakh to 10 lakh.