Jaipur: Instead of providing smartphones to women as announced in the Budget scheme of the previous financial year, Rajasthan's Ashok Gehlot government now plans to give them cash, so that the beneficiary women can purchase the phone of their choice. The government will give them a fixed amount.
"We are trying to give a certain amount to women of the state for purchasing mobile phones of their choice instead of giving the device under the scheme. Giving smartphones is a way to empower our women," said Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot on the scheme of free mobile to the women of the state.
Handset will be a smartphone only
Gehlot said that the companies would be asked to hold camps where the beneficiary women will get the chance to choose the handset of their choice. In case the smartphone costs more than the fixed amount, the rest will have to be paid by the beneficiary concerned," said Gehlot, adding that the mobile has to be a smartphone so that the government can send messages to empower the women.
Around 1.33 crore women registered under the Chiranjivi Scheme were promised smartphones with three years of free internet data under the Mukhyamantri Digital Seva Yojana. Gehlot had announced to spend ₹2,500 crore on the scheme but could not implement the scheme as tenders could not be placed due to a large number of beneficiaries.
BPL women, widows to get smartphones in the first lot
The opposition BJP made it an issue and attacked the government for making false promises. The Gehlot government announced the implementation of the scheme in phases and the first lot of around 40 lakh women of Below Poverty Line and widow category were promised smartphones on this Raksha Bandhan.
This time, too, the government failed to finalize the tenders and now is planning to give cash as very little time is left for the elections. Besides this scheme, the Gehlot government announced the Annapurna Free Food Packet Scheme in this year's budget, which is also heading for cash transfers to the beneficiaries.
Around one crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act would get a packet of necessary groceries if the scheme could be rolled out. The scheme which costs ₹3,000 crore was to be implemented by the Food and Civil Supplies Department but later on, was handed over to the Cooperative Department, which could not place the tenders on time, and now it is almost impossible to implement the scheme in the way it was proposed. So now the government is planning to transfer cash to the accounts of beneficiaries.
