The Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, 2023

The Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, 2023

News: The bill was recently introduced by Rajasthan government.

Background:
• It seeks to provide individuals or households with a minimal additional guaranteed income in the form of a guaranteed wage/pension, the bill would establish entitlement-based social security.

Key Provisions:

Minimum Guaranteed Income
• Each adult citizen of the state has been guaranteed a minimum income for 125 days a year.
• It will be provided through two schemes, in the urban areas through the Rajasthan government’s flagship Indira Gandhi Shahri Rozgar Guarantee Yojana and in the rural areas through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Provision of guaranteed wages and employment
• The minimum wages should be paid weekly or in any case not later than a fortnight to ensure the right to employment.
• The Program Officers (BDO in rural and an Executive Officer of the local body in urban areas) shall ensure that the work site is within a radius of 5 Km of where the job card is registered.
• The applicant is entitled to an unemployment allowance if the program officer fails to offer work within 15 days of receiving the application.

Social security
• The government will provide eligible categories (aged, disabled, widows, and single women) with a minimum pension of Rs 1,000, which will be increased at the rate of 15% each year.

Note – You can also refer to the topic of Universal Basic Income by clicking on the following link -
https://dics.co/current-affairs/universal-basic-income-upsc