Political and Administrative System of Rajasthan

What the official syllabus says

RPSC, RAS/RTS Preliminary Examination, General Knowledge and General Science, under “Political and Administrative System of Rajasthan”:

• Governor, Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, the Rajasthan High Court, Subordinate Courts and other judicial bodies, Advocate General.
• Chief Secretary State Secretariate, Directorates of Various departments, Divisional Commissioner, District Collector/District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police, Sub-divisional Officer, Tehsildar.
• Rajasthan Public Service Commission, Rajasthan State Election Commission, Rajasthan Information Commission, Rajasthan State Women Commission, Board of Revenue, Lokayukt.
• Administration of Panchayati Raj and Municipalities in Rajasthan.

Topics in detail

Governor

• Appointment, term and removal (Articles 153-160); powers: executive, legislative (ordinances, Article 213), discretionary, pardoning (Article 161)
• Role in the state: summoning the assembly, assent and reservation of bills, reports to the President; the Governor as Chancellor of state universities
• History: the office of Rajpramukh (1948-1956) and the first Governor of Rajasthan (1956)

Chief Minister and Council of Ministers

• Appointment (Article 164), powers and functions; relationship with the Governor (Article 167)
• Council of Ministers: size limit of 15% of the assembly (91st Amendment), collective responsibility, cabinet ministers and ministers of state
• Chief Ministers of Rajasthan since 1949 (in order) and the longest-serving among them

Rajasthan Legislative Assembly

• A unicameral legislature of 200 members; seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; the proposal for a Legislative Council
• Speaker and Deputy Speaker; sessions, legislative procedure, money bills, the state budget, committees (public accounts, estimates, public undertakings)
• Rajasthan’s seats in Parliament: 25 in the Lok Sabha and 10 in the Rajya Sabha

Judiciary

• Rajasthan High Court: established in 1949, principal seat at Jodhpur, bench at Jaipur; composition, jurisdiction, writ powers (Article 226), superintendence (Article 227)
• Subordinate courts: District and Sessions Judge, Additional District Judge, Civil Judges, Judicial and Metropolitan Magistrates; family courts, special courts
• Other judicial bodies: Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority and Lok Adalats, Gram Nyayalayas, the Rajasthan Civil Services Appellate Tribunal, consumer commissions
• Advocate General (Article 165): appointment and role

State administration

• Chief Secretary: head of the civil services, secretary to the Council of Ministers, coordinator of departments
• State Secretariat: departments headed by Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Secretaries; policy-making role
• Directorates: executive and field agencies (for example education, agriculture, health); line and staff
• Divisional Commissioner: supervision of districts, revenue appellate work, coordination
• District Collector and District Magistrate: revenue, law and order, development, elections, disaster management; Additional Collectors
• Superintendent of Police: the district police and its relations with the District Magistrate; the police hierarchy
• Sub-divisional Officer and Tehsildar: revenue courts under the Rajasthan Land Revenue Act, 1956 and the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955; land records, Naib Tehsildar, Girdawar and Patwari

State commissions and bodies

• Rajasthan Public Service Commission (Ajmer): composition, appointment and removal of members (Articles 316-317), functions (Article 320), the examinations it conducts
• Rajasthan State Election Commission (Articles 243K, 243ZA): elections to panchayats and municipalities
• Rajasthan Information Commission (Right to Information Act, 2005): composition, powers, appeals
• Rajasthan State Women Commission (Rajasthan State Commission for Women Act, 1999)
• Board of Revenue (Ajmer): the highest revenue court of the state
• Lokayukta (Rajasthan Lokayukta and Up-Lokayuktas Act, 1973): jurisdiction and limits
• Other bodies: State Human Rights Commission, State Finance Commission

Panchayati Raj and municipalities in Rajasthan

• Rajasthan as the first state to introduce Panchayati Raj (Nagaur, 2 October 1959)
• Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994: Gram Panchayat (Sarpanch), Panchayat Samiti (Pradhan), Zila Parishad (Pramukh); Gram Sabha and Ward Sabha; reservation including 50% for women; standing committees
• Officials: Chief Executive Officer of the Zila Parishad, Block Development Officer, Gram Vikas Adhikari
• Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009: Municipal Corporations, Councils and Boards; Mayor and Chairperson; wards; finances
• District Planning Committee; PESA rules in Scheduled Areas; development authorities and urban improvement trusts

Overlaps

Mains Paper III (Unit I, State policies and governance; Unit II, State and District Administration; Unit III, land laws) builds on this page.