According to media reports, the newly elected Congress government in Rajasthan is considering to revoke the Bhamashah Yojana, a flagship scheme introduced by the previous BJP government under Vasundhara Raje. Bhanwarlal Meghwal, a Cabinet Minister in Rajasthan has stated that the government is considering to scrap down this flagship scheme. But, the reason for revoking the welfare scheme is not clear and it surely appears to have been carried out of vendetta politics.
Bhamashah Yojana has been one of the best and most successful government schemes in Rajasthan. It has not only benefitted lakhs of citizens but also been hailed as a pioneer in women empowerment. Bhamashah Yojana is arguably the most efficient Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme in any state of India. Under the Bhamashah Yojana, financial and non-financial benefits of government schemes are provided to the women head of the family in a transparent manner through cards made in their names. CM Vasundhara Raje government was at the forefront of implementation of Digital India campaign through Bhamashah Yojana. The Vasundhara Raje led state government had also launched Bhamashah wallet to encourage digital payments among the rural population of the state. The seamless internet connectivity to women had also come in handy for their personal security.
The Bhamashah Yojana was started by Vasundhara Raje government way back in 2008 and was reintroduced in 2014 to promote financial inclusion and to eliminate the concept of middlemen as far as delivery of public services and empowering women are concerned. Therefore, it can be said that Vasundhara Raje was a term ahead of the then central government, which started the DBT program only in 2013 and it could be properly implemented only after the PM Modi led government came to power in 2014. Way back in 2008, Aadhar did not have such a wide reach and hence the Rajasthan government had to launch its own Bhamashah card for the process of unique identification. The scheme was named after Bhamashah, a famous minister, financier, and general who helped Maharana Pratap. So far, 1.6 crore families have been enrolled under the scheme and the government had provided benefits worth Rs 22,000 crore under the scheme.
It is estimated that the state government saved overall leakage of almost 90,000 crores by using DBT under Bhamashah scheme. In 2016-17 alone, the government was able to save Rs 32, 984 crores just by plugging leakage. Replacing the scheme with the old one will do nothing but give heed to profiteering and black marketing. DBT also made the transfer of MGNREGA benefits more transparent.
It is totally shocking that the Congress government is mulling to revoke the widely appreciated Bhamashah scheme. It seems that there is either a hidden agenda behind it or the decision is merely a result of vendetta politics of the Congress party.