Panel to look into Gehlot government's discretionary decisions

JAIPUR: All discretionary decisions taken by the Ashok Gehlot government during the last six months will be reviewed by a sub-cabinet committee, which was formed soon after the 12 ministers were administered oath of office on Friday.
Chief minister Vasundhara Raje did not waste much time in calling a cabinet meeting at her office, where a four member sub-committee was formed.The committee would be headed by Gulab Chand Kataria and included Rajendra Rathore, Kalicharan Saraf and Arun Chaturvedi and would review all discretionary decisions of the former Gehlot government within the last six months.
"All decisions of the last six months - personal or otherwise - but discretionary in nature, will be reviewed by the committee. The first meeting would be held on Saturday at the secretariat,'' Rathore told the media after the meeting.
Though Rathore did not mention any particular decision that will be reviewed, the list is likely to include those like handing out cash doles instead of laptops, sarees or blankets, the pension scheme and favouritism charges against the Gehlot government in allotment of mines and recruitments.
Rathore said the committee will also review all pending and discontinued projects, which were launched during the first tenure of Vasundhara Raje government. "We will review the status and might even work on re-launching these projects,'' he said. Among the projects which were discontinued by the former government is the Bhamasha Yojna, a woman-empowerment scheme.
That apart, the cabinet also decided to create a road map for the next 60 days for all departments. "All departments would draft a road map for the work to be completed over the next 60 days,'' Rathore said.
The newly inducted ministers, who met on Friday evening, also decided to turn the party's manifesto into an official document and cleared the appointment of an officer on special duty (OSD) for regular monitoring.
Rathore avoided questions on further allotment of portfolios, saying that had not come up for discussion during the meeting. "It is the chief minister's prerogative and would be announced by her,'' he added.