Jaipur, Feb. 26 -- A sharp exchange took place in the Rajasthan Assembly during Zero Hour as Congress MLA from Bundi, Harimohan Sharma, raised the issue of social security pensions and accused the state government of failing to implement the Minimum Guaranteed Income law passed during the tenure of former chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Sharma said he felt proud that the previous Congress government had enacted a law in 2023 granting pensioners a legal right to minimum guaranteed income, removing the need for elderly, disabled and destitute beneficiaries to repeatedly plead for pension hikes. He said the law ensured a structured annual increase in pensions - particularly for disabled beneficiaries who were receiving Rs.1,000 per month - mandating incremental hikes of 15%, 10% and 5% over the years, beginning 2024-25. However, Sharma alleged that the present government had failed to implement these provisions properly. He claimed that 91,000 beneficiaries were not paid even the base Rs.1,000 pension for four months and that payments were released only after the House session began. He said that as per the legal provisions, beneficiaries should have received Rs.1,400 per month by now for FY 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27. "Instead of Rs.1,400, they are being paid only Rs.1,250," he said, urging the government to release the pending amount. Responding to the allegations, social justice and empowerment minister Avinash Gehlot countered that the Minimum Guaranteed Income law was enacted by the previous government just before elections. He asserted that the present government had consistently increased pensions. "In the very first year, we raised the pension from Rs.1,000 to Rs.1,150, then from Rs.1,150 to Rs.1,250. We have now increased it by another Rs.50, and beneficiaries are currently receiving Rs.1,300 per month - not Rs.1,250 as claimed," he said. The minister also rejected claims of four months' arrears, stating that only one month's pension remains pending at any given time due to the payment cycle. He informed the House that 9.1 million beneficiaries receive social security pensions in the state and that the government has expanded coverage by adding 1.05 million new beneficiaries over the past two years. LoP Tika Ram Jully intervened, arguing that the issue was not about whether pensions had been increased earlier but whether the statutory annual 15% hike was being implemented. "Instead of implementing the structured annual 15% increase as per law, the government gave Rs.100 in the second year and Rs.50 in third year, whereas the cumulative increase should have been granted earlier," he said....