In a significant policy shift, the Rajasthan government has decided to discontinue its scheme of providing free electricity to domestic consumers, a move expected to affect a large segment of the population. Initially introduced to alleviate financial burdens, the scheme allowed households to avail 100 units of free electricity per month. The decision to halt the scheme means that new registrations for free electricity benefits will no longer be accepted. Existing beneficiaries with active meters will continue to receive the subsidy, while new applicants will be ineligible.
This policy shift forms part of the current administration’s broader strategy to phase out populist initiatives introduced by previous governments. The suspension of the free smartphone distribution scheme, which had been launched during Ashok Gehlot’s tenure, is another example of this approach. The government clarified its stance on both schemes in a written response during the assembly session, indicating that the free smartphone scheme was suspended during the assembly election code of conduct period, with a final decision pending on its continuation.
In response to BJP MLA Radheshyam Bairwa’s query, the state Energy Minister clarified that the Chief Minister Free Electricity Scheme, a domestic subsidy from the previous administration, is exclusively available to registered domestic consumers who have linked their domestic connection to a Janadhaar (public ID) number. Between June 2023 and March 2024, a total of 98.23 lakh domestic consumers were registered under this scheme, all of whom received its benefits.
Regarding extending the scheme’s benefits to disadvantaged consumers, the Energy Minister specified that the scheme stipulates benefits are only applicable upon registration of a domestic connection linked to a Janadhaar. Those domestic consumers who did not complete this registration process were either deemed ineligible or chose not to apply for the subsidy. The government currently has no intentions to include these deprived consumers in the scheme.
In response to Congress MLA Vikas Chaudhary’s query regarding the distribution of smartphones by the Rajasthan government, it was told that as of January 2024, 24,56,001 women had received free smartphones through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism. However, the distribution of these devices was halted on October 9, 2023, coinciding with the enforcement of the assembly election code of conduct.
The total budget allocated for the smartphone distribution scheme in the fiscal year 2023-24 was Rs 1811.30 crore. Of this amount, Rs 1745.22 crore was expended, which included Rs 1670.08 crore directly transferred as benefits to recipients. The distribution effort involved the setup of over 490 camps across the state over a two-month period, incurring costs totaling Rs 75.14 crore.
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