In-Focus

PromiseS Fulfilled - Rajasthan

99th Birth Aniversary Nation pays tributes to Lal Bahadur Shastri on his Birth Anniversary on 2nd October, who gave the famous slogan `Jai Jawan Jai Kisan'

Sonia Gandhi Pats Hockey Team

The Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi on 28 September congratulated the Indian hockey team on its spectacular win at the Asia Cup hockey tournament. She said that the spectacular win against Pakistan was really memorable and added that our team has lived upto the high standards of the Indian hockey, according to Media Secretary, Shri Tom Vadakkan.

Sonia Gandhi Greets Jugraj

Dear Jugraj, You have been in my thoughts ever since I heard the shocking news of your injury in a road accident. Along with the entire nation I am deeply thankful that you escaped more serious injury and I wish you a speedy and full recovery. Though fate willed that you could not be physically present on the field during our team's glorious victory in the Asia Cup, you were there in spirit to inspire your team-mates and boost their morale. It was your victory as much as it was theirs. Your gesture in presenting trophies to the team members was a heart-warming example of team spirit and generosity, which they reciprocated by sharing their medals with you. I pray that you will recover soon, and help the Indian hockey team go on to win even bigger honours. Indeed, we are counting on you to enable the team to strike gold in the Athens Olympics! With good wishes, -Sd- Sonia Gandhi

Majestic forts and palaces, brightly clothed people, vibrant festivals and art forms, Rajasthan has all hues in its turban. However, not everything was as vibrant when the Ashok Gehlot Government took over on December 1, 1998. With finances hitting an all-time low, managing the state's tattered economy was a daunting task. Call it grit, or a show of real fighting desert spirit, but the Gehlot Government has not only seen the state through its troubled times, but also positioned it as among the top five states in terms of GDP growth.

The changes have been wrought in five key areas : Drought management, regulations, infrastructure, social responsibility and governance.

Fighting Drought

The state accounts for 10.4 percent of the total area in India, 5.2 percent of its population but just 1 percent of its water resources. To make things worse, the state had been facing recurrent droughts. The Gehlot Government decided to tackle this problem head-on by dovetailing drought work with development projects and "drought proofing" the state. Over Rs. 2,815 crore have been spent during the past five years to contain the drought. In addition to this, 32.05 lakh MT of wheat have also been distributed to labourers engaged in famine relief works. Focussing on construction of water harvesting structures, more than 50 percent of the works executed were under this category.

To contain the recent drought, which happened to be the most severe, the state conducted drought relief operations incessantly for 11 months, employing 75 lakh people and disbursing the highest wage of Rs. 60 per day. The labourers had been provided their wages within a record time of 10 days. No major complaints of corruption were reported during relief operations. About 4.6 lakh people, unable to eke out their livelihood on relief works, were provided 50 kg wheat and Rs. 50 per month as gratuitous relief.

Fodder distribution centers and cattle camps were also established to take care of the livestock. Drinking water was provided by creating new sources like wells and hand pumps, restoring existing water sources and transporting water through tankers and rail. In fact, about 10,530 villages benefited from the supply of water through tankers.

Radical Reforms

The government has been firm in taking radical decisions to enhance revenue and cut down on avoidable expenditure. This includes rationalization of the existing tax structure, and the introduction of some new measures. In terms of non-tax revenue, departmental and other license fees have been revised. Irrigation rates too have been revised by almost 100 percent.

The surplus land has been allotted speedily. After detailed discussions at the special session of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, transfer of power, according to the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, to Panchayati Raj institutions has been nearly completed. Various procedural reforms have been made to streamline the functioning of bureaucracy. This aims at minimizing the use of discretionary powers to make the system fair and objective.

Infrastructure Initiatives

When it comes to infrastructure, Rajasthan is one of the first few states to have taken up reforms in the power sector. It has unbundled the State Electricity Board into five companies _ one for generation, one for transmission and three for region wise distribution of power _ with the full cooperation of its employees. Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) was also set up in January 2000. As a result of reforms, power generation has increased significantly and transmission losses have come down.

The state accounts for 66 percent of the total additional power capacity created in the northern Indian states between April, 1998, and March, 2002. With the pay load factor of about 90 percent, the operational efficiency of the power plants in Rajasthan is among the best in the country. The transmission network is to expand by 50 percent with the establishing more than 650 grid substations of various capacities. Additional power generation capacity has also been increased by 1,732 MW during the five-year span of the existing Government. Effectively, this amounts to more than 51 percent of what has been achieved in the past 50 years. About 2,717 villages, more than 1.02 lakh tubewells and 756 Harijan Bastis have been electrified.

With quality power available to the industries, Rajasthan has the potential to emerge as a major manufacturing hub. A BOT (build, operate, transfer) policy has been finalized to encourage private sector participation and investment in the roads and the bridges sector. About Rs. 2,766 crore have been spent so far. More than 5,217 villages and 1,412 panchayat offices have been connected through roads. A stretch of 41,629-km gravel road has been laid and 27,828 km of the existing circuit has been upgraded. Adding on to its list of first, Rajasthan has once again left all other states behind in implementing Prime Minister's Gram Sadak Yojana.

Within a year of coming to power, the Government had declared the State Water Policy on September 19, 1999. The Policy encompasses a State Water Resources Plan with a basin-wise approach and an exhaustive "Water resources Vision 2045" for sustainable development and optimum utilisation of the most precious resource. A total of 2.40-lakh hectare additional irrigation potential has been created in the past four years. Over Rs. 2,293 crore have been invested in the irrigation sector. For the first time, the lifeline that connects Punjab to Sri Ganganagar, the Ganga Canal, is being modernized at the cost of Rs 446 crore. This will create an additional irrigation potential of 96,500 hectare. The Sidhmukh Nohar Project has also been completed, adding another 94,000 hectare of irrigation potential. Potable water comprises a major part of the water policy and Rs. 2,000 crore are being spent on various schemes. Drinking water facility is now available in 37,643 villages and 51,343 Dhanis. About 15 projects worth Rs. 3,537 crore have been sanctioned and taken up, including the Bilaspur, Chambal River, Javai Dam and the Churu Bissau project.

To speed up investment in the state and encourage private-sector participation for industrial and infrastructure development, a single window system has been established. To attract private players, the state has come up with a dedicated project development company PDCOR Ltd, in association with financial institutions. A total of 2,451 industrial investment proposals have been filed for Rajasthan between August, 1991, and January, 2003. Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO) is setting up industrial parks at many places for leather, wool, ceramic, gems and jewellery, automobile complex, hardware technology and software development industries. Parks for biotechnology, information technology, agro/food processing, stone industry, etc. are also being built to give a boost to these sectors. Rajasthan is perhaps the only state to come up with Export Promotion Industrial Parks (EPIPS) and the response from the industry has been phenomenal. RIICO has also planned to set up Special Economic Zones (SEZs). These SEZs will be established for gems and jewellery, handicrafts and woollen carpets at Jaipur, Jodhpur and Bikaner respectively.

In tourism, MOUs have been signed with Kerala Tourism, ITDC and the World Travel and Tourism Council for achieving the necessary promotional synergies. The Asian Development Bank has recently funded a project for six divisional headquarters and six other cities of tourist interest with a projected outlay of Rs. 1,775 crore. Important tourist and religious places have been connected through BT Roads.

Social Responsibility

Another hallmark of the Gehlot Government has been its policies aimed at the social uplift of its constituents. The Rajasthan's literacy level has improved significantly from 38.55 percent in 1991 to 61.03 percent in 2001. For primary education, 21,453 Rajiv Gandhi Pathashalas have been opened in rural areas. This initiative covers about 12.5 lakh children. Innovative plans like mid-day meals are being run benefiting about 77 lakh children through 73,000 schools. Around 4,000 Mahatama Gandhi Public Libraries are being set up in selected gram panchayats. Under the Shiksha Aapke Dwaar programme, launched to achieve 100 percent enrolment, the number of children not attending school has come down from 23 lakh to 1.04 lakh. Besides, six new universities, 31 engineering colleges, one medical college and three dental colleges have opened in the private sector. This became possible through liberalization of policies. There are a number of scholarships and award schemes for girls.

For admissions to technical colleges in the state, reservation quota has been increased from 8 to 16 percent for the Scheduled Caste, 6 to 12 percent for the Scheduled Tribe and to 21 percent for the OBC students. In Sahariya tribal area, 25 percent of government posts are reserved for local Sahariya tribals. In Govt. services, the reservation quota for women has been increased from 20 percent to 30 percent. This has been extended to police recruitment as well. An independent commission has been set up for the welfare of socially vulnerable segments. Rajasthan is the first state where maintenance allowance for women has been raised from Rs. 500 to Rs. 2,500 per month. Around 80,000 self-held groups have been formed in the state. The rate of pension has been increased for old age pensioners, widows and the disabled to Rs 200 per month.

During the past five years, the govt. has taken several steps for the welfare of the SC, ST and minority communities. High priority was accorded for the uplift of women. To safeguard their interest, State Human Rights Commission, State Womens' Commission, SC & ST Commission and Safai Karamchari Commission were constituted. For Minorities commission a separate legislation has been enacted. For ensuring economic development of the Minorities and the OBC, State Minorities Development Finance Corporation and State OBC Development Finance Corporation were constituted. In fact, the state guarantee for these corporations has been increased from Rs 9 crore during 1997-98, which is over six times.

Good Governance

The Government believes in transparency and accountability. In keeping with this, it has passed a law relating to the right to information. Citizen's Charters have been formulated and implemented in more than 45 departments/ institutions, which have large public interface. With a view to eradicating corruption in public life, a chief vigilance commissioner has been appointed at the state level. Besides, 32 chief vigilance officers have been nominated in various departments _ mainly revenue earning ones.

A State Administrative Reforms Commission has also been set up. Through special campaigns like Prashasan Gaon Ke Sang and Prashasan Shaharon ke Sang, a whole range of issues related to interface between citizens and the local representatives of the government are taken up in open camps, to bring about greater accountability in government functioning. That these programmes are effective is evident from the fact that about 66 lakh families have benefited from the Prashasan Gaon ke Sang. Efficient anti-corruption bureaus and public grievance redressal systems have been set up.