Key points missing, income guarantee Act to be amended

Jaipur: When the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government prepared the first draft of the Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, 2023, it included a provision that allowed specially-abled persons and families belonging to the Sahariya and Kathodi tribes the right to obtain guaranteed employment for at least additional 100 days in a financial year after completing of 100 days of work under the rural employment guarantee scheme.
When the law was enacted, however, this point was missing from the Act.
The Bhajan Lal Sharma govt has now set in motion the process to fix the lapse and amend the Act.
The rural development department is likely to consult with the finance department and ask whether this exclusion may be brought back into the law by amending it.
“Eventually, the law has to be amended to include these key points in it,” said an official from the rural development department.
Governor Kalraj Mishra gave his assent to the Bill, passed by the assembly in July 2023, in September last year. Rules for the law, however, have still not been notified.
The Act also states that every person falling in the category of old age, specially-abled, widow, or single woman with prescribed eligibility shall be entitled to a pension.