The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has asked the Centre and state governments to replicate the Rajasthan government’s decision to revive the pre-2004 state-funded pension scheme for government employees. The Congress leadership also hailed the new Urban Employment Guarantee scheme announced in the recent state budget by the Ashok Gehlot government as an urban version of the MGNREGA, adding that this should be followed by other governments as well.

After the AICC call, the party circles indicated that the Congress government in Chhattisgarh may adopt the Rajasthan model.

AICC general secretary incharge for Rajasthan, Ajay Maken, said at the media briefing here on Friday that the Gehlot government has taken a historic decision by reviving the pension scheme, which was done away by the Vajpayee regime. “The employees should understand that the Congress party has always protected their interests and yet another example of this is Ashok Gehlot Ji’s decision in Rajasthan,” he said.

Maken recalled how the Vajpayee regime had done away with the state-funded pension scheme and replaced it with the current contributory pension scheme in which employees contribute from their salary for the pension.

Maken also said the Gehlot government’s Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme, which has been allocated ₹800 crore for urban employment guarantee for 100 days per year, demonstrated the commitment of the state government and the Congress party to the welfare of the urban poor.