The Congress-ruled Rajasthan on Friday became the first and the only State in the country to give social security guarantee to the people with the passage of the Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill in the Assembly. The Assembly also passed an Amendment Bill for enhancing the punishment up to life imprisonment for leaking question papers of recruitment exams.
The Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, 2023, passed with voice vote, gives a guarantee for giving 125 days of employment in a financial year to all families residing in the rural and urban areas and a minimum pension of ₹1,000 every month to the elderly people, specially abled people and widows and single women.
There will also be guarantee of 15% annual increase in these pensions under the legislation. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal defended the provisions for entitlement-based social security in the Bill while replying to the debate in the House, during which the Opposition BJP MLAs suggested several amendments and sought circulation of the Bill to elicit public opinion.
