Poor in Rajasthan will continue to reap benefits of Cong's policy: Gehlot

Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said that the poor will continue to benefit from the Rajasthan Minimum Income Guaranteed Act implemented by his government.

Gehlot in a post on X said that social security pension has never been the priority of the BJP but due to the Income Act implemented by the previous Congress government, there was an automatic increase of 15 per cent in social security pension in the vote on account presented in Rajasthan Assembly yesterday.

State Finance Minister Diya Kumari had presented the vote on the state's behalf on Thursday.

"The poor and the needy will continue to benefit from Congress' rights-based political philosophy," Gehlot said.

"During the tenure of the Congress government in Rajasthan from 2008 to 2013, we had started a social security pension for the elderly, widows and disabled," he said.

"The government changed in 2013 in the state. Despite rising inflation in the last five years, there was no increase in the social security pension of the needy in the last five years of the BJP government," he added.

He said that as soon as Congress came to government in 2018, it increased the social security pension.

No matter which government comes in the future, the needy should not suffer, hence we made the Rajasthan Minimum Income Guaranteed Act with a provision of 15 per cent automatic increase in social security pension every year, Gehlot said.