No shortage of money, says CM

JAIPUR: Chief minister Vasundhara Raje waived off loans amounting to Rs 114 crore for SC/STs, differently-abled and safai karmacharis who had borrowed from the Rajasthan SC/ST Development Finance Corporation , which promotes entrepreneurship. The announcement was made during the Chief Minister Beneficiary - Dialogue programme held here at Amrudon ka Bagh on Tuesday.She said loans up to Rs 2 lakh availed from the finance corporation have been waived off with interest. Those who have an outstanding debt between 1980 and 2016 would be eligible for the benefits and number of beneficiaries are estimated to be about 20,000.The chief minister also announced interest free loans up to Rs 2 lakh to carpenters, barbers, Kumhars, cobblers and plumbers. The interest component would be borne by the government.Raje had announced mobile phones for Bhamashah cardholders as was reported by the TOI on Tuesday. She said the government would disburse Rs 1000 in two instalments to own a mobile phone with internet connectivity under Bhamashah Digital Pariwar Yogana so that people could avail the benefits of various welfare schemes of government through the mobile phones sitting at their homes.The chief minister said there is no shortage of money and what is needed is ‘political will’. Raje said although she inherited a debt of Rs 2.5 lakh crore, she was able to bring the state back on track.The state government had spent over Rs 2,100 crore for free medicine scheme as against a meagre Rs 300 crore by the previous government, she added. Speaking about the Bhamashah Health scheme, Raje said now the poor people could also avail best treatment in private hospitals under the scheme.She claimed, “The state is no longer a BIMARU state. Rajasthan will be among the top performing states in the country empowering the weaker sections in the coming days.” She asked the people to repose faith in the government.In the government sector alone, our government was able to generate 3.25 lakh jobs with recruitments for 1.35 lakh jobs are currently underway, she added.“In a first-of-its-kind move, our government has given appointments to 21,500 safai karamacharis in 184 local bodies and constructed 80 lakh toilets in the past four and half years,” Raje said adding that the state is poised to become open defecation free (ODF) by March 2019.The chief minister also gave away no due certificates to the beneficiaries of loan waiver scheme and distributed first instalments of the loans sanctioned under various schemes.Social Justice and empowerment minister Arun Chaturvedi, UDH minister Srichand Kriplani, women and child development minister Anita Badhel and food and civil supplies minister Babulal Verma were among those present on the occasion.