Rajasthan will have 19 new districts, 3 new divisions
This is the first time since 2008 that new districts have been carved out, bringing the number of districts in the state to 50.
Gehlot made the announcement in the Rajasthan assembly, which also approved the 2023-24 budget by a voice vote.
He said a high-level committee has been formed to study the formation of new districts and a report has been received by the state government. “In this way, the state will now have 19 new districts,” the prime minister said during a discussion of the budget.
The three new divisions will be in Banswara, Pali and Sikar, he said.
For the new districts and divisions he proposed a budget of €2,000 crore for the first phase of infrastructure implementation and human resource development.
After 15 years, new districts are formed. In 2008, the then chief minister Vasundhara Raje had made Pratapgarh a district.
Geographically, Rajasthan is the largest state in the country and some places are more than 100 kilometers away from their district headquarters, so people are in trouble, Gehlot said.
“Small districts lead to effective administration, administration and control of law and order becomes easy. Several states in the country have been at the forefront of forming new districts, so there was a demand within the state to create new districts,” he said.
The new districts are Anoopgarh, which was part of Ganganagar; Balotra (Barmer); Keep (Ajmer); Kekri (Ajmer); Dough (Bharatpur); Deedwana-Kuchaman (Nagaur); Dudu (Jaipur); Gangapur City (Sawai Madhopur); Jaipur North; Jaipur South; Jodhpur East; Jodhpur West; Kotputli-Behror (Jaipur-Alwar); Khertal (Alwar); Take kaThana (Sikar); Phalodi (Jodhpur); Salumber (Udaipur); Sanchore (Jalore); and Shahpura (Bhilwara).
In the past, several lawmakers have demanded that their cities be upgraded to districts. Congress legislator Madan Prajapat had declared to go barefoot until the Balotra state government announced a new district.
Gehlot also announced to start with the increased €25 lakh package from the Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme from March 30. Previously, the package was capped at €10 lakh a family.
Responding to the budget discussion, the Prime Minister said that delivering effective, transparent and sensitive governance is his government’s commitment. The state government has implemented several public welfare schemes and ensuring that these schemes reach every village and hamlet requires working with full sensitivity at the district level, he said.
The Prime Minister also lashed out at the Center on the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) issue, saying: “The Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are opposing the OPS, but it will not stop, and we will also approach the Supreme Court .”
“The OPS needs to be implemented across the country. Why are there prejudices, the benefits of the OPS are given to the Army and Air Force but not to CRPF and others,” Gehlot said.
“Even the Prime Minister has to make a decision on the OPS before the (Lok Sabha) polls, as sit-ins are done by workers in many places. The decision to return to OPS by states is made on humanitarian grounds,” he said. .
Gehlot criticized the opposition BJP for calling the budget misleading and claimed that the BJP in Rajasthan is misleading the House and the public.
The prime minister said this is the government’s fifth budget, which has no new taxes. The government’s budgets and schemes are appreciated by the people, he said.
He also announced a 10 percent increase for state pensioners over the age of 75.
“Retirees over the age of 80 in the state will be given the benefit of an increase in the pension amount. In view of the additional financial security, the government has decided to announce an additional 10 percent allowance on the basis of the pension amount to the retiree above the 75 years old,” said Gehlot.
He announced the construction of a corridor in Govinddev Ji Temple in Jaipur along the lines of Ujjain’s Mahakal and said €100 crore would be spent for this work.
The prime minister announced the preparation of a DPR for the development of famous temples such as Pushkar, Tripura Sundari, Sanvaliyaji, Salasar, Khole ke Hanuman Mandir, Tanot Mata and Shrinathji.
The speaker declared MLA Amin Khan as the best MLA for 2022 and Anita Bhadel as the best MLA for 2023. These MLAs will be honored on March 20.
Earlier, Deputy Opposition Leader Rajendra Rathore criticized the state budget: “The government, which has faced infighting for the past four years, has presented its latest budget. It is misleading.”
This story was published from an agency news agency with no edits to the text.