Rajasthan to get 19 new districts, 3 new divisions
Jaipur, Mar 17: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday announced his government's decision to form 19 new districts and three new divisions in the state, earmarking Rs 2,000 crore for development of infrastructure for them.
This is the first time since 2008 that new districts are being carved out, taking the number of districts to 50 in the state.
Gehlot made the announcement in the Rajasthan assembly, which also passed the 2023-24 Budget with a voice vote.
He said a high-level committee was formed to study the formation of new districts and the state government has received a report. "In this way, the state will now have 19 new districts," the chief minister said during a discussion on 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 Rs 2,000 crore for the first phase of implementation of infrastructure and human resource development.
New districts are being formed after 15 years. In 2008, the then chief minister Vasundhara Raje had made Pratapgarh a district.
Geographically, Rajasthan is the biggest state in the country and some of the places are more than 100 kilometers far from their district's headquarters, and so people face problems, Gehlot said.
"Small districts lead to effective administration, management, and control over law and order gets easy. Various states in the country have been ahead in forming new districts. So, there was a demand within the state to make new districts," he said.
The new districts are Anoopgarh, which was part of Ganganagar; Balotra (Barmer); Beawar (Ajmer); Kekri (Ajmer); Deeg (Bharatpur); Deedwana-Kuchaman (Nagaur); Dudu (Jaipur); Gangapur City (Sawai Madhopur); Jaipur North; Jaipur South; Jodhpur East; Jodhpur West; Kotputli-Behror (Jaipur-Alwar); Khertal (Alwar); Neem kaThana (Sikar); Phalodi (Jodhpur); Salumber (Udaipur); Sanchore (Jalore); and Shahpura (Bhilwara).
In the past, several legislators have demanded that their towns be upgraded to districts. Congress legislator Madan Prajapat had declared to walk bare feet until the state government announced Balotra a new district.
Gehlot also announced to start the increased Rs 25 lakh package of the Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme from March 30. Earlier, the package was capped at Rs 10 lakh a family.
Replying to the discussion on the budget, the chief minister said providing effective, transparent and sensitive administration is his government's commitment. The state government has implemented various public welfare schemes and to ensure these schemes reach every village and hamlet, it is required to work with full sensitivity at the district level, he said.
The chief minister also hit out at the Centre on the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) issue, saying, "The prime minister and the finance minister are opposing the OPS but it will not stop, and we will also approach the Supreme Court."
"The OPS should be implemented across the country. Why is there biases, the OPS' benefits are given to the army and the air force but not to CRPF and others," Gehlot said.
"Even the prime minister before the (Lok Sabha) polls has to take some decision on the OPS as sit-ins are taking place in many places by employees. The decision to revert to OPS by states is taken on humanitarian grounds," he said.
Slamming the Opposition BJP for terming the budget misguided, Gehlot alleged that the BJP in Rajasthan is misguiding the House and the public.
The chief minister said this is the fifth budget of the government, which had no new taxes. The budgets and schemes of the government have been appreciated by the people, he said.
He also announced a 10 per cent increase in pension of state pensioners above the age of 75 years.
"Pensioners above 80 years of age in the state get the benefit of increase in pension amount. Keeping in view the additional financial security, the government has decided to announce 10 per cent additional allowance on the basic in the pension amount to the pensioner above 75 years of age," Gehlot said.
He announced the construction of a corridor in Jaipur's Govinddev Ji Temple on the lines of Ujjain's Mahakal and said Rs 100 crore would be spent for this work.
The chief minister announced 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, criticising the state budget, deputy leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore said, "The government which is facing infighting for the last four years has presented its last budget. But this budget will not come on grounds as it is impractical, looking at polls and misguiding."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
