This Page lists summary of Rajasthan Current Affairs for the month of February 2021:
Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI)
Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) was launched from Bhilwara on On 22nd February 2021 with an aim of achieving 100% immunization target in the state. The intention of the state government is that no pregnant woman and child below the age of two years is deprived of vaccination.
Intensified Mission Indradhanush has been launched under Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) across 24 districts in Rajasthan.
Green Agriculture Project
A Green Agriculture Project will be launched to conserve biodiversity and forest landscapes in the Desert National Park area located in Barmer and Jaisalmer districts.
The work plan for the initial three months of the project was approved in the meeting of the state project steering committee under the chairmanship of chief secretary Niranjan Arya.
The 7-year project funded under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) of the Food and Agriculture Organization will cost around Rs 30 crore.
Desert Festival 2021 to begin from February 25
Rajasthan state government has given a nod to the annual Maru desert festival that will be held in Jaisalmer from February 25. The festival will have interesting events like moustache and turban tying competitions as well as musical and cultural performances.
Rajasthan Budget to be tabled on 24th February 2021
According to a recent news, the Rajasthan state Budget for 2021-22 will be presented in the assembly on February 24th. The business advisory committee (BAC) meeting of the assembly decided that the assembly will discuss having the governor’s address for two days on February 11 and 12, followed by the chief minister’s reply on February 15.
There will be no sitting of the House from February 16-23 in preparation for the Budget. It will resume on February 24 for the presentation of the State Budget.
Child Rights Awareness Campaign Launched in State
In February 2021, state’s child commission launched an awareness campaign under which which the department’s officials will visit districts across Rajasthan to tell people about children’s rights. The campaign started from Nagaur and will eventually spread to other districts. The campaign called ‘Aayog Aapke Dwar’ will talk to children about good and bad touch as well.
Nagaur: To be the 1st All Schools Electrified district of State
Nagaur is set to become the first district in the state to have power supply in all government schools. Under the special drive ‘Ujaas’ by the district collector’s office, 817 schools have been electrified by mobilising bhamashahs (donors) and gram panchayat offices in the last six months.
Rajasthan has 69,980 schools, out of which over 11,699 are without power.
e-Auction of Liquor Shops
The State Excise department is second largest tax revenue earning department of state government. In February 2021, the department has released the Excise & Temperance Policy for the year 2021-22. Important points include:
- There is no change in the number of liquor outlets in the state. Currently, there are 7,665 liquor shops in the state including IMFL and country liquor.
- The liquor shops will be allocated through e-auction instead of lottery.
- Composite liquor stores (where IMFL and country liquor will be sold) will be allotted to the highest bidder.
- A person will not be allotted more than five shops in the state and not more than two shops in a district.
- From April 1, beer will be cheaper as the department has reduced additional excise duty by 10%.
- To reduce the burden on traders, annual license fee has been abolished on IMFL and beer shops in urban areas.
- Advance deposit provision has been reduced from 14.5% to 8%.
- For the first time, the state government has allowed setting up of micro-breweries in hotels, bars and other establishment.
Excise & Temperance Policy 2021-22: Download PDF
RERC releases Electricity Supply Code Regulations 2021
In February 2021, Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) has released Electricity Supply Code Regulations 2021. As per the new regulations:
- Discoms have to provide connection, replacement of faulty meters and other services in a time-bound manner.
- The faulty meters have to be replaced within 24 hours in city areas while in rural areas it is 72 hours.
- All applications are online and hard copy is not mandatory.
- A single application form will replace multiple forms for various categories.
- Disconnected connections for non-payment had to be restored within six hours on payment of dues.
- The time limit for new connection has been reduced from 30 days to 7 days.
- The voltage demand limit for 11 KV increased from 1,500 KVA to 2,500 KVA while for 33 KV voltage demand limit has been raised from 5,000 KVA to 8,000 KVA which will reduce the cost of the consumer.
- Similarly, the new code has attempted to simplify the procedure for power connection to new colonies, township, group housing, multi storey, farm house and industrial areas.
Covid-19 Vaccination in Rajasthan
The Covid-19 vaccination drive began across the country on 16th January, 2021. Only the United States and the United Kingdom are currently ahead of India in vaccination.
Till 8th February 2021, 8% of the country’s vaccination has been done in Rajasthan. It is the 3rd State after Uttar Pradesh & Maharashtra to have vaccinated more than 2 lakh beneficiaries.
Expert team to review GIB breeding
A special team of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) will be visiting Jaisalmer from February 8 to 10 to review the ongoing Great Indian Bustard conservation breeding programme.
The team will again identify the bird’s habitat area along with to check the possibility to put the electricity wires that are passing from breeding area underground on the guidelines of the government of India.
A hatchery centre has been made for GIB breeding in DNP in Sam area of Jaisalmer, which has led to increase in population of GIB.
3 schemes launched to give jobs to youths
In February 2021, Minister of state for skill, employment and entrepreneurship Ashok Chandna launched three schemes to provide skill development training and employment to 1 lakh youths every year. The Schemes are:
- Samarth scheme
- Under the Samarth scheme, the entrepreneurship skills of women, people belonging to backward and marginalised classes and specially-abled persons will be enhanced.
- It is a 100% state government funded scheme, which will provide free training facilities to those belonging to 15 to 50 years of age.
- The training programme will be from 2 to 8 hours a day.
- Saksham scheme
- Under the Saksham scheme, the youths and women will get skill development training so that they could prepare themselves to set up their own businesses or become self-employed.
- The age limit under the training programme is 15 to 45 years.
- The training will be provided free of cost.
- The registration fee for the programme is Rs 400 for general men category and Rs 200 for all other categories including women, SC, ST, OBC.
- Rajvik scheme
- The Rajvik scheme aims to provide job opportunities to unemployed youths by providing them market-oriented skill training.
- There will be skill training programmes under 328 courses in 36 economic sectors.
- The age limit is 15 to 35 years. The maximum age limit for women and specially-abled persons is 45 years
School health & wellness programme
The school health & wellness programme was launched in seven districts across Rajasthan on 3rd February 2021. The seven districts includes all the five aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog in the State.
The program has been launched with an objective to enhance knowledge and encourage positive health behaviours among schoolchildren and adolescents. It aims to provide awareness on mental and physical health of schoolchildren and adolescents.
Under the program, in each school two teachers will be identified as health and wellness ambassadors and two children will be identified as health and wellness messengers. These teachers will talk to children over 11 points of health every week and make them aware about health.
A total of 9,642 teachers will be trained from 4,821 schools from February to May, who will be taking regular sessions for students in the schools in seven districts. The programme will also be linked through mainstreaming adolescent health through linkages to Nirogi Rajasthan.
The programme will be initiated in Baran, Dhaulpur, Jaisalmer, Karauli, Sirohi (Aspirational Districts) and two additional districts – Bundi and Udaipur.
The programme is being implemented in coordination with health and education departments and with the technical support of United Nations Population Fund.
District-wise ranking in Jaipur Division
Recently Jaipur divisional commissioner Samit Sharma introduced a district-wise monthly assessment and ranking system based on the performance of 10 key departments.
The districts falling under Jaipur division are evaluated on 53 different parameters. In this evaluation, Sikar has secured first position followed by Jhunjhunu, Alwar, Jaipur & Dausa in order.
UID for Real Estate Properties
Property holders across the state will soon get an UID for their real estate, which will be required for carrying land-related work online including name transfer, map approvals and others.
The urban development and housing (UDH) department has started an exercise to provide unique identification number (UID) to properties falling under development authorities, urban improvement trusts and other local bodies.
Till start of February 2021, the department has a data of 9.5 lakh properties across the state and process is ongoing.
Gandhi Darshan Corners
Gandhi Darshan corners will be set up in higher secondary schools of the state to introduce the new generation to Gandhi’s ideals. Additionally, Gandhi Study Centres that have already been established in the universities of the state, will be revived.
Jaipur Literature Festival 2021
The 10 day the Jaipur Literature Festival 2021 (JLF 2021) to take place between 19-28 February 2021. The 14th edition of the festival will be an Online Event.
Open Theatre in Ajmer
An open theatre with a capacity of 450 people has been completed under the Ajmer smart city project. The open theatre is situated in Suchna Kendra premises on 1,073sq metre area and has been constructed at a cost of Rs 1.03 crore. The theatre will provide artists a platform to display their art.
Yudh Abhyas-20
In February 2021, the joint military exercise between Indian and US – Yudh Abhyas-20 was held at Bikaner’s Mahajan Field Firing Range.
