Rajasthan has recently emerged in India as the State leading the way in several reform campaigns, policies and structures that have worked immensely well under the leadership of the first woman Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. The results are evident as the State emerges as the seventh largest economy in the country. The rate of growth is the highest at a rate of 8 per cent annually, higher than all the leading states of the country – Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, UP etc. As far as investment scenario is concerned, the investors’ community from India and different parts of the globe has taken initiative in Rajasthan to park their funds in the state with a great zeal. What makes the state more appealing is the peaceable mesosphere, controlled law and order and responsive governance. Keeping the trend going on, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje recently called upon the Collectors and Superintendents of Police for all the districts to jointly sketch a common vision for good governance and benefit of the people of Rajasthan. A 3-day conference was held at the Chief Minister’s office in the presence of Raje and her entire cabinet, apart from Collector, SPs and other officials.

In the meeting, Raje called on the officers to achieve the BJP government’s vision of a healthy, educated, gender sensitive and prosperous Rajasthan and hailed them as ‘Team Rajasthan’. She also directed officials to work towards the object of a high ‘Khushhali index’. She outlined how a synergy of experience of seniors, energy of juniors and the field inputs of public representatives could work like magic in furthering the development agenda. Stressing on the fact how district administration is the visible face of government at the grass root level, she emphasized how it was a great opportunity to get to play a pivotal role in changing lives and futures of the citizenry. She asked the officials to be prepared for the next few months that are going to throw challenges especially in terms of drinking water and seasonal diseases. Nearly, 14,500 villages in 19 districts are facing severe drought like conditions in Rajasthan.

Raje’s dream Rajasthan

CM Raje issued the following instructions to the Collectors and SPs in the Collector-SP conference:

• ‘Arogya Rajasthan Camps’ data should be analyzed and through partnerships with institutions and NGOs, camps should be organized for providing Wheel Chairs, Calipers, Hearing Aids, Polio Correction Surgeries etc. at different locations in the district.
• All facilities like Old Age Homes, Children Homes and Hostels run by the state or run with government support should be inspected for cleanliness, diet, drinking water, medical services and security by senior officials (ADM/ CEO ZP/ SDM every month.
• Pro-active management of drinking water supply by tankers and ensuring use of tankers with GPS and Flow Meters to contain public agitation and angst.
• Joint teams should identify areas susceptible to water borne diseases. Under all conditions, bacteriological contamination of drinking water should be prevented.
• Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan to be used as a mechanism for drought proofing. With unique features like use of GIS, geo-tagging of all structures and crowd sourcing, this campaign is being watched with interest by the rest of the country. This year, by spending more than Rs.200 Crores, around 27,000 rain water harvesting structures have been completed. Rajasthan Government aims to cover 18,000 villages in the next three years under MJSA.
• Availability of essential drugs must be continuous. Also vital that medicines are used and distributed judiciously and not merely dumped in warehouses.
• Better results to be achieved with the ‘Nyay Aapke Dwar’ campaign. Concentration also on removal of encroachment on roads/ rights of way, which is a major contentious issue in the district.
• Unparalleled scheme of Bhamashah Yojana in providing direct benefits, plugging leakages and ensuring financial inclusion and empowerment needs to be now promoted. Rajasthan’s Bhamashah scheme already has 1.17 Crores beneficiaries, with cards issued more than 82 lacs recipients and benefits worth Rs.1791 Crores transferred.
• Redressal of genuine grievances is a real test of administrative ability. The Rajasthan Sampark Portal, designed for this purpose, shows 7 lacs grievances out of 7.5 grievances registered to have been disposed off. The quality of this needs to be checked. Random checks are being done to verify proper redressal.
• Till now, 94,000 youth have been employed in the government as has been 5.23 lacs youth in the private sector. Collectors must visit and inspect the it is and Centers of Excellence in their districts and share feed back.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje ended with saying, “The task before Team Rajasthan is herculean. But then this team has you as agents of change who shall not only react to situation but also ‘act’ in a manner befitting a development administrator and change manager. We are confident of your abilities but it shall require you being having faith in yourself and the team.”