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Gehlot launches free smartphone scheme in Rajasthan
Under the Indira Gandhi Smartphone Yojana, the state government will transfer ₹6,800 to the e-wallet of a beneficiary
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday launched the free smartphone scheme for women in the state.
Under the Indira Gandhi Smartphone Yojana, the state government will transfer ₹6,800 to the e-wallet of a beneficiary through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) , officials familiar with the matter said.
The beneficiary, after the completion of their KYC (know your customer) process, can then purchase a mobile phone of their choice in the camps set up by the government. During the event to launch the scheme the CM also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah over the Manipur issue.
Earlier, Gehlot said that 50% of the promises made by the state government have been fulfilled. “Through Indira Gandhi Smartphone Yojana, the state is fulfilling its another promise,” he said.
The CM said the scheme was delayed due to the shortage of chips in the international market because of the Covid pandemic. “Now, women will be provided with smartphones in the camps without any hassle. The beneficiaries will be given free internet data for three years,” he said.
The CM said that under the second phase of the scheme, smartphones will be provided to eight million women.
Addressing reporters in Jaipur, Gehlot said the approach of PM Modi and home minister Amit Shah towards Manipur may lead to unrest in parts of the country.
“The kind of behaviour you have been doing with the country is worrying…(Manipur) state is burning and there has been unrest. Imagine what will happen if this spreads to other parts of the country in five or ten years because these people have created this type of atmosphere,” he said.
“If the atmosphere escalates, then the central government and army, state governments and their police forces will not be able to do anything, like they are not able to do anything in Manipur,” he told reporters.
Retorting back, former minister and BJP MLA Vasudev Devnani said the entire opposition is conspiring to “taint PM Modi’s image by playing politics on Manipur incident, which is dangerous to the country”.
