The defeat of the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan in the recently concluded Assembly election despite its many ambitious welfare measures has posed a question over the reach and effect of its schemes. The Lokniti-CSDS survey sought to explore this issue.
Among the welfare schemes in Rajasthan, almost six out of every 10 voters (58%) reaped the benefits of the Chiranjeevi Swasthya Bima Yojana, which offers free health cover of ₹25 lakh. This scheme witnessed broad outreach, particularly among the Scheduled Castes or SCs (69%), Muslims (62%), and those from the most vulnerable economic sections (61%). Another notable welfare initiative, the Indira Gandhi Shahri Rojgar Yojana, benefitted one in four urban voters (26%), with Muslims (48%) and those from underprivileged economic sections (45%) forming the majority of recipients.
