Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot presented an old state budget on Friday, leading to a faux pas. The Opposition party members stormed the house in protest of this faux pas, and the Assembly was adjourned for half an hour.
During the Assembly session on Friday, February 10, 2024, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot started narrating the parts of his government’s previous state Budget, which influenced the protests by the BJP members of the House.
Speaker C P Joshi ordered them to maintain the decorum of the House but the Opposition members continued their rebellion. This led to the Assembly being adjourned for half an hour. After the adjournment, BJP MLAs demonstrated a peaceful protest inside the plaza of the House.
Ashok Gehlot carried on with his narration for eight minutes before he realized that the Budget he was presenting in the Assembly was an old one. He was interupted by Congress minister Mahesh Joshi after which he stopped his speech. BJP leader Gulab Chand Kataria and the Leader of the Opposition Party in Rajasthan asked whether the Budget was a leaked one, as if it was leaked, it cannot be presented.
Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje criticized Gehlot for the mix-up and said that when he was the CM of Rajasthan, he used to check and read the budget speech again and again before presenting it in the House. He taunted Gehlot and said that eyeryone can now imagine how safe it is that Rajasthan is in such careless hands.
Gehlot also looks after the financial portfolio and was presenting the budget based on the concept of “Bachat, Rahat, Badhat” (which means saving, relief, and progress). The tragic faux pas took place at a time when all the focus was on the Gehlot-led government, as this is his last Budget before his tenure ends and the elections are held later this year.
The Chief Minister addressed this issue on his official Twitter handle and said that the BJP is at fault. He said that the BJP only wants to indicate that they are against the progress and development of Rajasthan.
While blaming the BJP, he further stated, “Its mind-boggling allegation that the budget was leaked shows that it will not leave the Budget out of petty politics. There is only one obstacle in ‘Bachat, Rahat, Badhat’ – BJP.”
Gehlot’s idea of the Indira Gandhi Shehri Rozgar Guarantee Yojana
Last year when he addressed his party’s state budget, Gehlot hardly left out any demographic sector untouched in his three hours long speech. He initiated some incredible schemes, like as urban areas, the Indira Gandhi Shehri Rozgar Guarantee Yojana (IGSRGY), and for rural areas the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
Last year, when he was presenting the urban employment scheme he pointed out that there are many schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), but there are no such effective schemes for people living in urban areas. By people living in urban areas, he meant the street vendors, and people working at restaurants and dhabas.
According to this Indira Gandhi Shehri Rozgar Guarantee Yojana scheme, employment for up to 100 days is provided to people in a year. The state government also allocated a total of Rs 800 crore for this scheme. The scheme has been implemented and executed since, but it has been unable to gather momentum.
In addition to this, Ashok Gehlot had also announced that there will be an increase in man-days under the MNREGA scheme from 100 to 125 days. Agriculture was also given importance. The agriculture budget was presented separately and highlighted sectors that need much care.
