Rajasthan elections: Plea filed against state's free smartphone scheme

The Rajasthan High Court has asked the Ashok Gehlot-led state government to respond to the petition

A petition was filed by advocate Mudit Nagpal on September 15 against the state government, stating that the recently launched "Indira Gandhi Smartphone Yojana" could not be classified as a state welfare scheme. Taking this into notice, the Rajasthan High Court issued a notice to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot-led state government to respond to the petition, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.

 

Senior counsel Vikas Balia and counsel Sanjeet Purohit, representing the petitioner, argued before a division bench presided over by Justices Vijay Bishnoi and Yogendra Kumar Purohit. They contended that the proposed distribution of guarantee cards, promising smartphones with internet connectivity to 10 million female heads of Chiranjeevi cardholder families, is based solely on the chief minister's declaration and lacks prior approval in the state budget.

 

The petitioner also pointed out that in the 2022-23 state budget, the government introduced the "Mukhyamantri Digital Seva Yojana," intending to provide smartphones with three years of internet connectivity to around 13.3 million Chiranjeevi Card holder families. However, the scheme could not be implemented as planned in 2022-23 due to a global shortage of chipsets.

 

Guidelines issued by the Department of Information Technology and Communication on July 26, 2023, renamed the scheme as the "Indira Gandhi Smartphone Yojana." However, these guidelines did not align with the beneficiary categories defined in the 2022-23 budget. The division bench has asked the state government to respond to the petition before the next hearing, scheduled for October 5.

 

The petition has expressed concerns regarding the scheme's burden on the state economy and budget. It further argued that the scheme would come at the taxpayer's expense, which should be avoided. It also hinted that the scheme was not a welfare act but a political move ahead of the state assembly elections, which are scheduled at the end of this year or early 2024.

 

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has been accused by the Opposition for handing out "freebies" ahead of the state assembly polls. The chief minister denied the allegations, stating that the state government was just performing its duties.