Jaipur, Mar 1 (PTI) Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday accused the BJP regime in the state of discontinuing a scheme launched by his government to give free mobile phones to women.

Gehlot said with the aim of empowering women, his government had launched the Chiranjeevi scheme to provide smartphones to women heads of families with three years of free internet connectivity, benefitting a total of 1.19 crore families in the state.

"In the first phase, approximately 35 lakh women received smartphones. However, as soon as the BJP government came to power, it abruptly halted the programme, despite it being part of the budget with funds already allocated," the veteran Congress leader said in a post in Hindi on X.

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government propagated a campaign claiming that smartphones were being distributed like freebies but the scheme was based on research and evidence.

"The smartphones were provided with three years of free internet connectivity, aiming to increase digital access for women," Gehlot said.

He said the BJP government's decision to stop the scheme is a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which ensures equality before law for all citizens.

The Congress leader said discontinuing the initiative was unjustifiable.

"Many women in the state are still waiting for their smartphones, recalling that Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi had promised in the run-up to the Assembly polls that no scheme launched by the Congress government will be discontinued. It is now time for the BJP government to resume this programme and fulfil its promise to the women of Rajasthan," he said. PTI SDA RC

Equality before law challenged as state halts women's smartphone empowerment scheme, government urged to restore benefits. The Chiranjeevi scheme supplying smartphones and three years of free internet to women heads of households was halted by the new state government despite budgetary allocations and initial distributions; this cessation is contended to implicate Article 14 equality concerns because beneficiaries face unequal treatment and advocates urge resumption of the programme to restore digital access for women.