[ad_1]
Just months before the assembly elections, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday announced six per cent additional reservation for the most backward castes of the OBC category. This will be in addition to the 21 per cent reservation given to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). He said that a survey will be conducted by a commission to identify the most backward castes in the OBC category and the commission will submit the report in a time-bound manner. With this, the chief minister said, the most backward castes will get more opportunities for education and service in the government sector. He also said that various outfits of SC-ST have been demanding reservations on the basis of population. “The government is also getting this demand assessed,” he said in a tweet.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday addressed a rally in Mangarh Dham in Banswara. The rally was organised on the occasion of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, or World Tribal Day. It also marked the beginning of the Congress campaign for the assembly polls in Rajasthan later this year.
Gandhi said the country’s land used to belong to Adivasis and they were its original owners, but the BJP coined a new word, “Vanvasi”, which means the ones who live in the forest. “We call you Adivasi, this country is yours…They (BJP) say you are not Adivasi, you were not the first inhabitants of India, they say you are Vanvasi, which means you are not the original owners of this country but you live in the jungle,” he told the gathering of largely tribal people.
The Congress leader appreciated the work of the Rajasthan government and said the state’s Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme is the best in the country. He also launched a scheme, under which free smartphones will be given to 40 lakh women in the first phase, by handing over a mobile device to a girl student. The beneficiaries of the scheme will be given smartphones from Thursday.
Gandhi also handed over a food packet to a beneficiary of the Annapurna scheme under which free food items including chana dal, sugar, salt (one kg each), edible oil (one litre), chilli powder, coriander powder (100 gram each) and turmeric powder (50 gram) will be given to beneficiaries. “We work to connect people. They are spreading hatred all over the country. I took out Bharat Jodo Yatra and worked to connect the country,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
[ad_2]
