What to Expect from Ashok Gehlot’s Budget on 10th February

With the Rajasthan election on the loose at the end of this year, the present Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot is all set to announce the budget for this year. The budget is coming with a lot of anticipation and rumours. While some are believed to be true, we can only expect that the Gehlot-led Government will try its best to strengthen its voting poll.

Rightly so, Ashok Gehlot, one of the most efficient politicians of Rajasthan, is about to announce this year’s budget tomorrow. Since this is the last budget of his present term, he is undoubtedly all set to announce some generous social welfare schemes this year. Last year, when Gehlot announced that his Government was moving back to the old pension scheme (OPS), his decision was a hot topic for various debates. But it also showed some positive impact on his Government.

With Congress using the ops as an election issue, Ashok Gehlot, now more confident than before, is about to announce more social welfare schemes.

The Preparation for The Budget Announcement

Ashok Gehlot, leading a competent Government in Rajasthan, has proved that his political party has been in humour and enjoying good health by putting up a big hoarding. All this was to get people’s attention towards his upcoming budget. When Congress started to choose Sachin Pilot as a more efficient Chief Minister for Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, maintaining his track record, announced “Bachat, Rahat, Badhat” by putting up the hoarding with his image.

Even though his opponent, the BJP state president, Satish Poonia has targeted the Gehlot Government and replaced “Bachat, Rahat, Badhat” with “Apradh, Bhrashtachar, Paper leak”, now, every eye is shifted to the yet to be announced budget.

The new Rajasthan Budget was to be announced on 8th February. But the date changed and now, according to the report, the Chief Minister will announce the budget on 10th February. That is not it. Gehlot will respond to the budget discussion on 16th February. Since the Legislative Assembly was to stay closed from 3rd February to 9th February, the business advisory committee decided that the schedule would run from 10th February to 16th February.

After the budget announcement, the session will reopen on 11th February, and the leaders will meet to discuss the budget between 13th to 15th February.

Why Is The Timing of Budget Announcements So Important?

Ashok Gehlot intends to leave no stone un-turned to stay in power for another term. Budget announcement is simply a small and smart part of that. Gehlot has aimed to achieve his political aspiration through this move. By instructing to convene the budget session in January instead of February, he prefers to get more time to act on the public welfare scheme to strengthen his position before the election this year. The Gehlot Government has already hinted towards a few points of this new budget. They have already announced that the budget will be focused on women and youth. So, people can expect some social welfare schemes related to empowering women and youth of Rajasthan.

What Are The Anticipations about The Gehlot Budget This Year?

Gehlot, this time seems to be very confident about retaining the same position and highlights the budget as the new ‘Rajasthan model’. He also invests a large sum of money on Chiranjivi health cover. But this time, he has increased the amount from five lakhs to ten lakhs. In addition, he has announced that Ten Lakh rupees will be provided to every family in the State and free OPD and IPD.

Smartphones will be provided to 1.35 crore women registered under the Aadhar scheme. He has also launched Indira Rasoi, where anyone can get food twice daily at Rupees 8 per plate.

The Chief Minister recently told the media that his Government has planned to introduce several schemes on social security this year. He has also talked about the Chiranjivi scheme.

The Gehlot government intends to provide twelve cylinders yearly to low-income families for just Rupees 500. Being responsible for the financial sector of his State, Gehlot is aware of the negative impact of inflation and is about to fix certain things.

Not only that, during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi suggested some security measures for the gig workers (the workers who work in Zomato, Swiggy, Ola, Uber, etc.). That is why Ashok Gehlot has also considered that and is set to announce some security measures for them.

With the youth joining the app-related services more as a part-time job, the Congress-led Government knows well that it will help to strengthen their voting pool. “Rajasthan will be the first state in the country to bring provisions in the budget, especially for the gig workers aiming to provide legal protections and connect them with welfare programmes.” A senior official said.

A senior Congress leader told Outlook that the State is going for the assembly elections later this year, and this will be the last budget of the present Congress Government. The Congress leader also implied that the Budget would put more attention on youths and new job opportunities and shift its focus on social welfare schemes to counter inflation.

The upcoming budget is also expected to announce some more facilities this year. Gandhi, during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, suggested that the Government will consider providing kitchen kits to needy people. It is directly linked to the upcoming budget, scheduled to be announced tomorrow. That is why The Gehlot Government may announce to provide kitchen kits to some families besides providing twelve cylinders at a much lower price.

The party leader also implied that since Rahul Gandhi talked about the social security of the gig workers, providing a scheme suitable for these workers is of utmost importance. Not only that, after Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, feedback was taken concerning the benefits and challenges of being a gig worker. The new budget is believed to have set a scheme based on the report of the feedback. An official also included,” important suggestions from the feedback meetings will be included in the budget.”

Conclusion

Even though it seems like the Rajasthan Assembly election has time, the Gehlot Government has been doing everything in its power to turn the tide on its side. The upcoming budget scheduled to be announced tomorrow is set to take people by surprise by announcing some tempting social welfare schemes. Gehlot, being responsible for the financial sector, and Rahul Gandhi’s direct impact on the election are visible on the budget. Nonetheless, with all the schemes, Ashok Gehlot is all set to get the ball in his court this year.