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| Published in the Hindustan Times May 8, 2014 |
The recently formed Bhartiya Janta Party government in Rajasthan has not very clearly articulated its policy direction yet. The state unit of BJP had presented a long election manifesto before the legislative assembly elections, but the government has hardly got any time to implement it. Soon after the formation of the government the Loksabha elections were declared, and government got enough time only to present state’s Interim Budget 2014-15 and the vote on account in March. The interim budget speech by the Chief Minister Ms. Vasundhara Raje was very short and provided no clue to the possible policy directions her government intended to take. The three priority areas identified in the budget are promotion of solar energy, providing water to the unreached villages and laying a road network of 20 thousand KM in the state. However, the budget allocation was increased only for solar energy and not for the other two. The earlier Bhamashah yojana is also to be reintroduced according to the budget speech. Under the scheme, the state government plans to deposit Rs. 1,500 in accounts of 50 lakhs rural families through biometric smart cards along with health insurance. However, the social development schemes initiated by the earlier government like free medicine and free medical tests schemes could not find mention in the budget speech. Continue reading here
