Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Tuesday the Centre should enact a law and implement social security across the country so that elderly, destitute women and differently-abled people can get a uniform pension.

He said it will help the needy to live their lives with dignity.

Gehlot said the old pension scheme has been implemented for government employees in Rajasthan. The central government should also consider implementing the same, he added.

Gehlot was speaking after unveiling the statue of farmer leader late Jagdish Kakralia at Pachkodia in Jaipur.

The chief minister said the budget 2023-24 presented by the state government is the “subject of discussion” in the entire country today.

The budget prepared following pre-budget dialogue with all sections of society is being praised everywhere, he added.

Gehlot said to bring the inflation down, a relief package of Rs 19,000 crore has been announced in the budget.

In this, several provisions have been made including a gas cylinder for Rs 500 to 76 lakh families associated with BPL and Ujjwala schemes, free Annapurna food packets every month to the families coming under the purview of the National Security Act (NFSA), he added.

He said 100 units of electricity will be given to domestic consumers and 2,000 units to farmers free of cost per month. Due to this, the electricity bill of one crore domestic consumers and more than 11 lakh farmers will become zero, he said.

The chief minister said that the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) is an important project for irrigation and drinking water supply in 13 districts of eastern Rajasthan. He said the prime minister himself has supported giving the status of a national project to ERCP in his public meetings. The central government should give the status of the national project to ERCP as soon as possible, he added.

Gehlot said the unnecessary delay is likely to result in unexpected cost escalation of ERCP like Pachpadra Refinery. This will put an economic burden on the resources of the state, he asserted.

Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi, Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria, Disaster Management and Relief Minister Govind Ram Meghwal, Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation President Dharmendra Rathore, Rajasthan Youth Board President Sitaram Lamba, MLA Prashant Bairwa and a large number of people were present on the occasion.

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