With the Election Commission close to announcing poll dates for the Gujarat Assembly, and implementing the model code of conduct, the Vijay Rupani government in the State rushed to dole out freebies to mollify disgruntled groups.

For one, it increased the honorary remunerations for Asha (Accredited Social Health Activists) workers by 50 per cent. This will benefit about 40,000 women in the State.

The Asha workers, as part of the National Rural Health Mission (NHRM), will also get two saries or dresses once a year from the government. The increased remuneration will be made effective with retrospective effect from April 1. The move will put additional ₹57.14-crore burden on the State treasury.

In Vadodara district, more than 40 Asha workers had gone on a hunger strike for over a month, demanding higher remuneration.

As a mark of protest, one of them had allegedly thrown bangles at Prime Minster Narendra Modi during his recent roadshow in Vadodara, reflecting the brewing anger against the government.

Leave benefits

On Tuesday, the Gujarat government also announced several financial and non-financial benefits for contractual workers of State organisations, who have been agitating for a while. They now get an increased leave, maternity benefits and accidental death cover besides additional daily travel allowance.

“All contractual workers will get ₹250 as daily travel allowance, increased leave, up to 90 days of maternity leave and ₹2 lakh of accidental cover in case of on-duty death,” said Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel.

After measures such as procurement of groundnut and cotton at higher prices and setting up of a State crop insurance fund, the Gujarat government also announced a GST waiver on micro-irrigation equipment. This will put additional burden of ₹77.64 crore on the exchequer.

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