'Right, Not Freebie': Rajasthan Assembly Passes Minimum Income Guarantee Bill

In what is expected to be the last session before the state goes to polls, the Rajasthan Assembly today passed a landmark bill to guarantee 125 days of work a year for all families in the state. The bill also guarantees a minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month for the elderly, the specially abled, widows and single women, which will increase by 15% every year.

The Minimum Income Guarantee Bill, 2023, is part of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's attempts to cast a wide social security net and build on the success of the Congress in Karnataka, where it had stormed into power earlier this year after making five guarantees. The promises included free electricity and a monthly assistance of Rs 2,000 to the woman head of every family.

The state government also introduced the Rajasthan Platform-based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill, 2023, in the assembly today, which intends to provide social security to gig workers and create a Rs 200-crore fund to do so. The bill will be discussed on Monday. 

In a dig at the centre, which has accused opposition-ruled state governments of doling out 'freebies', Mr Gehlot said, "Social security is the right of every person in the state and the country. We are not doing anyone any favours. In a democracy, it is every government's responsibility to provide social security to the state's residents. This was the thought behind my initiative."

Calling for every citizen of the country to get access to such social security measures, the chief minister also referred to the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY), which was part of the Congress manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and intended to give Rs 6,000 every month to the bottom 20% of the population. 

The Minimum Income Guarantee Bill, which was passed by voice vote today, clubs the urban employment guarantee scheme, the rural employment guarantee scheme and the pension scheme into an umbrella legislation. The scheme under which these will be implemented will be called the Mahatma Gandhi Minimum Income Guarantee Scheme.

Replying to the discussion on the bill in the assembly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal said once the bill becomes law, all rural families of the state will get additional 25 days of employment under the Mukhyamantri Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Yojana after completing 100 days of employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). 

Urban families will also be guaranteed 125 days of employment under the Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme, Mr Dhariwal said. He added that the elderly, the specially abled, widows and single women will get guaranteed minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month.

Mr Dhariwal said a provision has been made for a 15% automatic increase in the pension every year -  5% in July and 10% in January. The base amount for this increase will be Rs 1,000.

"This unique and historic law will also give the common man relief from skyrocketing inflation," the minister said. 

Sources said the government also passed the bill to ensure that, irrespective of which dispensation comes to power in Rajasthan in the upcoming elections, it will have to implement these social welfare measures and will find it hard to shut these schemes once they become part of an Act.