Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot announced one lakh recruitments in the coming financial year and expansion of the Chiranjeevi Heath Insurance Scheme to reimburse treatment costs for patients undergoing organ transplant outside the state, while replying to the debate on the Budget 2023-24 in the state assembly on Thursday.
“While presenting the budget on February 10, I had announced to ensure recruitment on the vacant posts in the coming financial year in addition to the appointments which are under process. In this sequence, now I announce one lakh more recruitments in the coming (financial) year,” Gehlot said.
The chief minister said at present, organ transplant is available at empaneled hospitals in Rajasthan but now the transplant expenses as per the package will be provided at any hospital outside the state.
Speaking on the Old Pension Scheme, he said, “When salaries of MLAs and MPs can increase then government employees cannot be left at the mercy of the god. The employees should be given security.”
Hitting at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP), Gehlot said, “The PM is misguiding the people. On his recent visit to Dausa, he came up with a new Parvati-Kalisindh-Chambal link. Did I make this (ERCP) project? The project was conceived by former BJP CM Vasundhara Raje. Why they are creating hurdles in the project? The public will never forgive them.”
“Now that Raje isn’t the CM, her scheme is intentionally not allowed to progress further,” he said taking a jibe at the alleged infighting in the BJP.
Highlighting the work done and money spent on cows, he said, “You (BJP) are Ram bhakt and Gau-bhakt only for the votes.”
“The per capita income in 2022-23 was ₹1.56 lakh, which is 85% more than the last year. In last four years, there has been an average growth of 10.01% in per capita income, which is 7.89% in the country,” he said.
Gehlot accused the Centre ofs being partial to the states, and said at one end they talk of team India but the Centre-state sharing pattern has been changed to 40:60.
Earlier, speaking on the budget speech, state BJP chief and MLA Satish Poonia alleged that the sanctity of the budget is compromised and it was leaked.
On February 10, Gehlot read excerpts of the previous budget instead of the Budget 2023-24 and was alerted by the officials.
Pooonia said the state is under huge debt of RS 5.80 lakh crore. “If a child is born here, he is under a debt of ₹90,000,” he said.
“For growth and development of any country and state, stability plays the key role, but here the Congress government is responsible for four years’ political instability,” he said taking a jibe at the alleged infighting in the ruling Congress.
“They claim zero tolerance against corruption, but on an average 600 employees or officials are caught in a year,” he added.
The BJP state chief said the chief minister just makes announcements but has no road map to implement them.