KAYAD, AJMER: Minutes before election dates were announced and the model code of conduct kicked in, CM Vasundhara Raje announced free power to farmers in rural areas in her address at the ‘Vijay Sankalp Sabha’, where the PM also launched his campaign.
Her announcement came around 2 pm, just an hour before Election Commission announced the date for the election. The EC had earlier scheduled its announcement for 12.30 pm.
The timing of the announcement raised eyebrows, but Raje claimed work on the sop had begun the day before. “As a step towards PM Modi’s objective to double farmers’ income, we will provide free power to certain sections of farmers in rural areas. Work for this began on Friday,’’ Raje announced, in PM’s presence.
Within hours, the power department released a back-dated notification (October 5, 2018) on the scheme’s announcement — the scheme to be implemented from November. The notification said the state will reimburse power bills of up to Rs 10,000 annually for rural farmers (general category) who receive power.
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