Congress slams BJP govt for rolling back pro-people schemes in Rajasthan

The Congress on Sunday said its previous government in Rajasthan passed a series of visionary laws to meaningfully improve the quality of life of thousands in the state and asked why the current BJP dispensation is "rolling back" pro-people schemes.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed the questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his rallies in Jalore and Banswara.

"Why is the BJP government rolling back the INC's pro-people schemes? Does the PM prioritise his businessmen friends over Rajasthan's rural communities? Why has ERCP not been designated a national project yet," Ramesh asked in a post on X.

Elaborating on what he said were "jumla details", Ramesh said when the Congress was in power in Rajasthan, it passed a series of visionary laws that would meaningfully improve the quality of life of thousands in the state.

"The Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Act, the addition of 25 extra days for MGNREGA (Rural) over and above the sanctioned 100 days, the Indira Gandhi Shahari Rojgar Yojana Act which guaranteed 100 days of employment to families residing in urban areas, the Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare Act), and the Right to Health Act which provided universal health coverage -- all these schemes provided crucial protections to vulnerable populations," he said.

"Instead of these acts being implemented, we are now seeing a breakdown of governance since the BJP came to power in December 2023," the Congress leader alleged.

At least 15.5 lakh pensioners in Rajasthan have not received their pensions since January this year due to "verification" issues, he claimed.

The government also attempted to reduce health coverage from Rs 25 lakh under the Congress' Chiranjeevi Yojana to just Rs 5 lakh under the BJP's Ayushman Bharat, Ramesh said.

"In their vindictiveness, why is the BJP government rolling back the INC's pro-people schemes? Does PM Modi's vision involve any protections for vulnerable populations in Rajasthan," he asked.

The Congress leader further claimed that Rajasthan's Orans are under threat after the BJP passed a controversial amendment to the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) in 2023.

"Orans are community forests that are a vital part of community life in Rajasthan. Traditionally seen as sacred, these forests are preserved and managed by rural communities and used for everything from grazing livestock to hosting social events and festivals," he said.

Under the old FCA, any land that satisfied the dictionary definition of forest was covered by the Act, he said and added that the amended FCA aims to nullify this much-celebrated definition. Now, it will only apply to forests that have been declared or notified as a forest and those recorded in government records on or after October 25, 1980, Ramesh added.

"While Orans were earlier protected under the Act, the amended law does not apply to them. They are now under threat of destruction because revenue records have marked them as wasteland, which is easily diverted for development projects," he said.

"While the BJP government has recently notified Orans as 'deemed forests', locals point out that this is quite counterproductive -- communities will not only be stopped from accessing and conserving Orans, the notification also does not stop them from being given to companies for non-forest purposes. Why has the BJP government so brazenly stripped protection from Rajasthan's sacred Orans," Ramesh asked.

He also asked why the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) has languished for so long.

"Villages in Rajasthan are struggling to meet their basic water needs and women have to walk several kilometres to get water," the Congress leader said.

On July 7, 2018 and October 6, 2018, PM Modi had promised to the people of Rajasthan that the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) will be given national project status, he said.

This designation would have enabled the Centre to bear 90 per cent of the funding costs, he noted.

After the Congress came to power in 2018, then-chief minister Ashok Gehlot wrote to the PM on six occasions, requesting him to fulfil his promise so that this essential infrastructure project could commence, Ramesh said.

"Despite the PM’s promises, the BJP not only denied national project status, but also refused to respond to any of Mr Gehlot's letters. Now, the BJP government has hastily pushed the project through before the election, at massive cost to the state exchequer," he alleged.

Ramesh asked why the prime minister has failed to fulfil the promise he made to the people of Rajasthan.

"Where is the 'Double Engine Sarkar' when Rajasthan really needs it," he said and asked the prime minister to break his "silence" on these issues.