Rajasthan govt tables bill for minimum income, employment, pension

The Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government on Tuesday tabled the Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, 2023, with an aim to provide entitlement-based social security to support the individuals or households with an additional minimum guaranteed income in the form of a guaranteed wage or social security pension,

The Bill has three broad components-Right to Minimum Guaranteed Income, Right to Guaranteed Employment and Right to Guaranteed Social Security Pension, and the government anticipates an additional expenditure of Rs 2,500 crore per year due to the scheme, which may increase with time.

The Mahatma Gandhi Minimum Guaranteed Income Yojana (MGMGIY), as the scheme brought under this Act will be called, states that the state shall provide to all eligible people a minimum guaranteed income by providing employment in urban areas through the Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (IGUEGS), and in rural areas through Chief Minister Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (CMREGS) or by providing pension to an eligible category of old age/specially abled/widow/single woman.

Besides, every adult person residing in rural areas shall have a right to get guaranteed employment for doing permissible work of at least 25 additional days in a financial year on completion of maximum days of work as prescribed by the MGNREGA, and to receive minimum wages weekly or in any case not later than a fortnight under the right to guaranteed employment. Similarly, in urban areas, every adult person shall have a right to get guaranteed employment for doing permissible work of at least 125 days in a financial year, and to receive minimum wages weekly or in any case not later than a fortnight.

Meanwhile, under the Right to Guaranteed Social Security Pension, every eligible person falling in the category of old, specially abled, widow or single woman is entitled to a pension. An important component of the pension would be an automatic increase of 15 per cent annually on the base rate in two instalments i.e. 5 per cent in July and 10 per cent in January of each financial year, starting from financial year 2024-2025.