Raje remodels erstwhile Cong govt's livelihood scheme

After storming back to power in the recent Assembly elections, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje today dropped a livelihood scheme of the previous Congress government saying it could not create jobs in last five years and replaced it with a new one.
A meeting of the state cabinet, chaired by Raje, also decided to amend the Rajasthan Forest Act, noting that certain stringent provisions in the law imposed by the Ashok Gehlot government was very harsh for the tribal community.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore told a press conference that the cabinet reconstituted the Rajasthan Mission on Livelihood to create 15 lakh jobs in five years.

The Mission will be headed by the Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, and consist of six Principal Secretaries of Planning, Power, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Panchayati Raj, Industry and Tourism departments, six eminent personalities and six representatives of top industries to train unemployed youth.
Rathore said the Rajasthan Skill Livelihood Development Corporation of the previous government did not hold any meeting and could not create jobs in last five years.
The Cabinet decided to amend sections 26 and 33 of Rajasthan Forest Act to provide relief to tribal community people, he said, adding the previous government had amended the original Act to impose a fine of Rs 25,000 and six months' jail for even cutting a leaf from a plant.

"It was very harsh for those living in tribal areas and many were trapped by the law. Hence, the Raje government decided to restore the original Act to save people living in forest areas," Rathore said.