Ashok Gehlot govt flips Vasundhara Raje's decisions

The Ashok Gehlot cabinet held its first meeting here on Saturday afternoon and resolved to review all the decisions made by the previous Vasundhara Raje government in the last six months.

Information and public relations minister Raghu Sharma said that the decisions of the last six months would be reviewed, just as the BJP government had done when it came to power.

"Yeh parampara BJP govenrment ne daali thee, hamaree sarkar bhee 6 mahinon ke faisolon kee samkeesha karegee. [The BJP started this tradition. So our government will also review the decisions taken int eh last six months]," he said.

The previous BJP regime had started the scheme of distributing smartphones under Bhamashah Digital Parivar Yojana among others in the last months of its tenure.

On Saturday, the freshly inducted cabinet also decided to set up an interdepartmental committee to scutinise short-term farm loan waiver announced in the state. It will decide the eligibility and criteria for loan waiver from cooperative, nationalised, regional, rural and land development banks. The Chief Minister has been authorised by the Cabinet to nominate the panel members.

On December 19, the Rajasthan government had declared loan waiver for farmers which will cost Rs 18,000 crore to the state exchequer.

In another major decision, the government also decided to reopen the Haridev Joshi journalism institute and Dr Ambedkar law university, which the Raje government had shut down in its review of the decisions of the previous Gehlot government.

In two landmark reversals, the government decided to scrap the minimum educational qualification criterion to contest local body elections, and do away with direct elections for the post of mayor and heads of local bodies.

In other decisions, the state government increased senior citizens' pension by Rs 250 a month. Now, those who were getting Rs 500 per month will get Rs 750, while those getting Rs 750 will get Rs 1,000.

Other decisions

1. Photograph of BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya would be removed from the letterhead of the government stationary, and Ashok Stambh would be in the centre as before

2.Committee to be formed for resolving problems of contractual employees like National Rural Health Mission employees, para teachers, Vidyarthi Mitra, etc

3.Work on refinery to be expedited

4.Ministers will conduct public hearings daily at their homes between 9 am and 10am