Jaipur: With two years to go before Rajasthan goes to the polls, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is headed the ‘Amma’ way. Raje launched Annapurna Rasoi Yojana at the Jaipur Municipal Corporation by flagging off vans which will sell meals, including breakfast, lunch and dinner for Rs 5 to Rs 8.
Close on the lines of Amma Canteens, which worked wonders in adding to the popularity of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, Annapurna Rasoi aims at providing good quality, subsidised meals to the less-privileged.
The meals will be up on offer three times a day against a payment of Rs 5 for breakfast and Rs 8 for lunch and dinner for rickshaw pullers, auto drivers, security guards, working women, labourers and the elderly.
Cashless payments can be made for the meals through POS machines. Availability of the e-wallet option is still being processed.
In its first phase, the scheme is being implemented simultaneously at 80 places in 12 districts, including Raje’s constituency Jhalrapatan in Jhalawar besides Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Ajmer, Bikaner, Udaipur, Bharatpur, Baran, Banswara, Dungarpur and Pratapgarh.
Since Raje has made no secret of her discomfort with ‘populist schemes’ through scathing attacks on former chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s welfare schemes that burdened the state exchequer, this one comes as a surprise.
But Raje, who has weathered major political storms, including the Lalit Modi controversy and cow deaths at government-run Hingoniya Gaushala in the past three years of her second term, now clearly has her eyes set on the elections.
Raje government’s big-ticket shows like Resurgent Rajasthan, meant to attract investment in the state, and Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet for farmers have found limited popularity.
As elections draw closer, Raje who recently re-organised her team with the recent cabinet reshuffle and expansion is now pinning hopes on schemes like the Annapurna Yojana to connect with the people.
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