Rajasthan cabinet annuls 9 new districts and 3 divisions formed by previous Gehlot govt
The Rajasthan government, led by the BJP, annulled nine of the 17 new districts and three divisions created by the previous Congress government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Rajasthan government on Saturday annuled at least nine of the 17 new districts and all the 3 new divisions formed by the previous Congress government ahead of the state assembly election last years, officials said.
The decision was approved by the Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma in a cabinet meeting on Saturday. With the latest decision Rajasthan will now have 41 districts and 7 divisions. The nine districts cancelled by the cabinet includes Shahpura, Dudu, Jaipur Rural, Neem-Ka-Thana, Kekadi, Gangapur City, Jodhpur Rural, Anoopgrah, and Sanchore while the three new divisions Pali, Banswara, and Sikar were also suspended.
"Rajasthan came into existence in 1959 as a separate state with 26 districts. Till 2023, only seven new districts were only formed considering the convenience of the people and administration. Hence, it is clear that the sudden formation of as many as 17 districts and also 3 new divisions were not a need of the hour. It was also not planned as per the uniform parameters of the district formation notified by the union government such as the administrative benefits, behavioural and cultural equality, and population," said the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel while addressing the press after the meeting
He said, "The government has, therefore, decided to annuled 9 of those new districts while keeping the rest 8 new ones after an expert review. We have also suspended the 3 new divisions. Rajasthan will now have 41 districts including 33 old ones and 8 new ones, and also 7 divisions as earlier."
While suspending the nine new ones, the government has decided to continue Beawar, Balotra, Deeg, Didwana-Kuchaman, Dudu, Kotputli-Behror, Khairthal-Tijara, Phalodi, and Salumber.
Months ahead of the state assembly election in the state, the then-CM Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in the state, on August 5 last year, announced 17 new districts increasing the total number of Rajasthan's districts to 50 and redrawn the two large urban districts – Jaipur and Jodhpur, as per the recommendation of the Ram Lubhaya committee. A total of three new divisions were also notified in the state.
Later, on October 6, only a day ahead of the implementation of the poll code of conduct by the Election Commission of India, Gehlot had also announced three more new districts- Malpura, Sujangarh, and Kuchaman. However, they could not be notified due to the conflict with the CoC timing, said officials.
However, the initiative drew a fresh political salvo ahead of the assembly poll as the BJP alleged that the move to create new districts as a futile exercise aimed at bolstering the chances of Congress candidates in the upcoming elections.
After the BJP came to the power in the state following the massive win in the state poll last December, the government declared to review the formation of those new districts and divisions along with a slew of schemes initiated by the Gehlot government.
On June 13, the state Revenue Department also issued a fresh order declaring that the CM Sharma constituted a five-minister cabinet committee to review the new districts' formations. The five members comprises Deputy CM Prem Chand Bairwa, cabinet ministers Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Kanhaiyalal Meena, Suresh Rawat, and Hemant Meena.
Bairwa was also made the convenor of the five-member sub-committee.
Later, on June 29, the government has also set up a new officials' committee led by an ex-IAS officer to review the formation of 17 new districts notified by the previous Congress government in August last year, said the officials familiar with the matter.
"Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma has approved the formation of a committee regarding reorganization of districts in the state. The committee headed by former IAS officer Lalit K. Panwar will submit its report to the cabinet sub-committee regarding reorganization of new districts," stated the Chief Minister's Office in an official statement in June 29.
After surveying in all the new districts, the Panwar committee has submitted its final report to the cabinet sub-committee on August 31. Commenting on the survey methodology, Panwar told HT, "The committee has considered 10 parameters to do the survey including geographical location, population, administrative structure, economic backwardness, distance between the district headquarters and tehsils, effective law and order maintenance among some of the key parameters."
Meanwhile, on September 18, the government also replaced the education minister Madan Dilawar with the deputy chief minister Prem Chand Bairwa as the convenor of the cabinet sub-committee. The Dilawar-led committee has taken the final view on the Panwar report and presented before the CM on Saturday that led to the latest decision on the suspension of nine districts and three divisions, said officials.
The minister Patel further added in the presser: "The decision was never a political one. We have not judged the parameters based on the favour of BJP and Congress. The committee's firm view is that the Congress government has not taken the decision of formation of new districts considering any revenue resources and other administrative infrastructures. Many of those districts don't even have a proper collector's building."
He said, "It was against the government's interest. It was clear from the Panwar-committee report that we don't need those districts at this moment."
Commenting on the development, the Congress has meanwhile also declared to begin a mass protest against the move after January 1 once the state-mourning period gets over due to the passing of former Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh.
In a press conference, the Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra said, "This was a inhuman decision taken by the government today. How did they arrive in this decision when one committee has given verdict in the favour of the formation and another given against? It appears that CM has received a new slip from Delhi to take this move as we all know that he has been visiting there for the last few days. But we all thought that PM Narendra Modi is likely to gift Rajasthan some new development projects but this is what we got."
He also alleged: "The CM has only considered his own interest. He did not suspend the Deeg district as it was carved out of his hometown Bharatpur. But, they had suspended Dudu which is Deputy CM Bairwa's district. He was also removed from the sub-committee earlier. We should note this facts."
Declaring the mass movement, Dotasra further added: "The state-mourning for ex-PM late Singh is not over yet. Once it is over, the Congress will take roads after January 1 and will make this government realise what they have done. People are not happy with this decision. The new collectors, police superintendents and other staff were already appointed in all those districts. What will happen to them now?"
Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition, Tikaram Jully said, "Former CM Vasundhara Raje had also spoken in favor of smaller and new administrative units in her speeches in the Assembly during the previous BJP government. A small district like Pratapgarh was formed during the tenure of the BJP government. This shows that BJP also understands the importance of small districts. Why does the BJP government want to end the facilities provided to the people there by the new districts? This decision may create difficulties for people and increase their distance from administrative centres."
He further added: "The new year is about to begin, and it is time to take steps towards new thinking and development. Abolishing new districts will not only cause problems to the people, but this step can also be a step backward towards development."
In a post on X, Gehlot commented, "The BJP government's move to suspend 9 districts out of the 17 new districts created by our government is an example of imprudence and a mere political vendetta. During our tenure, a committee was formed on March 21, 2022 led by senior IAS officer Ramlubhaya to reorganize the districts, which received reports from dozens of districts. After examining all these reports, the committee finalised its own proposal- based on which we decided to form those districts."
He said, "After the bifurcation of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan became the largest state of the country. Yet, the reorganization of administrative units was not done minutely considering that proportion. Despite being a smaller one than Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh has 53 districts today.
According to Gehlot, the average population per district in Rajasthan was 35.42 lakhs occupying an average of 12,147 sqkm before the formation of new districts which reduced to 15.35 lakh population per district occupying 5268 sqkm after the notification of new ones. "The smaller units are always good for better and faster administrative deliveries," he added.
"The districts which have been canceled by the BJP government on the pretext of being small is also unfair. The size of the district depends on the geographical conditions there. The success of government planning is also greater in less populated districts. It is also easier to maintain law and order in small districts because the reach of police is greater there," Gehlot added.
