The Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill-2023 was passed in the state assembly on Thursday. This bill guarantees 125 days of employment to all families in rural and urban areas in the state. It also ensures a minimum pension of Rs 1000 every month to elderly people, specially-abled individuals, widows, or single women under social security pension schemes in the state. Additionally, there is a guarantee of a 15% annual increase in these pensions. Rajasthan is the first state in the country to pass such a bill for social security.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced in the 2023-24 budget that the Mahatma Gandhi Minimum Guaranteed Income Scheme will be implemented in the coming year. This scheme aims to provide social security rights to needy people and families by making a law that covers urban and rural employment guarantee, as well as all pension schemes sponsored by the state government.
Under this law, all families in the state will receive an employment guarantee of 125 days, and elderly people, specially-abled individuals, widows, or single women will receive a minimum pension of Rs 1000 per month. In rural areas, families who complete 100 days of work under MGNREGS will now be eligible for an additional 25 days of employment under the Mukhyamantri Grameen Rojgar Guarantee Yojana (Chief Minister Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme). In urban areas, each family will receive employment for 125 days under the Indira Gandhi Shehari Rojgar Guarantee Yojana (Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme).
The Central Government currently provides a social security pension of only Rs 200 to Rs 300 per month. However, the beneficiaries of social security pension in Rajasthan will now receive a minimum pension of Rs 1000 per month from the state government. The pension amount has not increased for many years, but Chief Minister Gehlot increased it in 2019 after six years. Under this new law, the base rate of the social security pension will automatically increase by 15% every year, with a 5% increase in July and a 10% increase in January.
