Rajasthan
Torn between 2 states, many residents of border villages long for Rajasthan | Jaipur News
In Pratapgarh’s Rajpuria village, nestled on the Rajasthan-Madhya Pradesh border, there was no cheers when the announcement of 2,000 units of power free for agriculture came in CM Ashok Gehlot’s budget for 202324. Even when farmers in neighbouring villages raced to register for debt forgiveness, the people of Rajpuria watched in silence.
The village, which has 50 residents and large property holdings, is a casualty of the boundary dispute between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh that plagues people in 11 districts each from the two states. A stream flowing through the dark soil in Rajpuria defines the state boundary. It is 60-80 metres wide during the monsoon and shrinks to just 2-5 metres in the dry seasons.
Bhanwar Lal Prajapat, an elderly farmer in the village, says he and many fellow villagers are fed up with the “border crisis”. He showed his Aaadhaar card issued in Rajasthan and his electricity bill from Madhya Pradesh. “My home is in Rajpuria village in Rajasthan, and my farmland is in Jamalpura village in MP. Both were previ- ously part of the same village, but due to some mistakes in the revenue records during the British rule, they were split into two settlements. The border crisis began when MP was formed,” said Prajapat.
Rajasthan was formed in 1949, and when the princely kingdoms amalgamated to become MP in 1956, the territory around Rajpuria was marked in the revenue records as pastureland in MP, said villagers. “We did not mind it throughout the first three decades. It started pinching us when the records were streamlined,” said Prajapat.
Ramesh Jat, 42, owns seven bighas of land in Jamalpur, which is fewer than 100 metres from his home in Rajpuria village. He is registered as a farmer in MP but as a non-farmer in Rajasthan.“I am eligible for the PM Kisan Nidhi Scheme neither in Rajasthan nor in MP. My Aaadhaar Card is from Rajasthan, but I am not a farmer here, and MP does not consider me its resident. Even getting loans from banks or on the Kisan Credit Card against assets in either of the two states is next to impossible,” said Jat.
As slow efforts are on by officials of the two states to resolve the border crisis and let people living along the border decide on which state to choose, many farmers want to be Rajasthan residents.
“Shifting from MP is now an attractive decision. Rajasthan has many good schemes that MP does not have. We can avail ourselves of schemes like Mukhya Mantri Chiranjeevi Swasthya Yojna, which provides health insurance of Rs 25 lakh, cheaper LPG cylinders, and free smartphones for women only if we have Rajasthan ID cards,” said Ganpat Khatik, a local farmer.
In July, Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra held a meeting with his MP counterpart, Mangu Bhai, and government officials from 11 districts each from the two states to settle the boundary dispute. It is yet to be resolved.
The village, which has 50 residents and large property holdings, is a casualty of the boundary dispute between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh that plagues people in 11 districts each from the two states. A stream flowing through the dark soil in Rajpuria defines the state boundary. It is 60-80 metres wide during the monsoon and shrinks to just 2-5 metres in the dry seasons.
Bhanwar Lal Prajapat, an elderly farmer in the village, says he and many fellow villagers are fed up with the “border crisis”. He showed his Aaadhaar card issued in Rajasthan and his electricity bill from Madhya Pradesh. “My home is in Rajpuria village in Rajasthan, and my farmland is in Jamalpura village in MP. Both were previ- ously part of the same village, but due to some mistakes in the revenue records during the British rule, they were split into two settlements. The border crisis began when MP was formed,” said Prajapat.
Rajasthan was formed in 1949, and when the princely kingdoms amalgamated to become MP in 1956, the territory around Rajpuria was marked in the revenue records as pastureland in MP, said villagers. “We did not mind it throughout the first three decades. It started pinching us when the records were streamlined,” said Prajapat.
Ramesh Jat, 42, owns seven bighas of land in Jamalpur, which is fewer than 100 metres from his home in Rajpuria village. He is registered as a farmer in MP but as a non-farmer in Rajasthan.“I am eligible for the PM Kisan Nidhi Scheme neither in Rajasthan nor in MP. My Aaadhaar Card is from Rajasthan, but I am not a farmer here, and MP does not consider me its resident. Even getting loans from banks or on the Kisan Credit Card against assets in either of the two states is next to impossible,” said Jat.
As slow efforts are on by officials of the two states to resolve the border crisis and let people living along the border decide on which state to choose, many farmers want to be Rajasthan residents.
“Shifting from MP is now an attractive decision. Rajasthan has many good schemes that MP does not have. We can avail ourselves of schemes like Mukhya Mantri Chiranjeevi Swasthya Yojna, which provides health insurance of Rs 25 lakh, cheaper LPG cylinders, and free smartphones for women only if we have Rajasthan ID cards,” said Ganpat Khatik, a local farmer.
In July, Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra held a meeting with his MP counterpart, Mangu Bhai, and government officials from 11 districts each from the two states to settle the boundary dispute. It is yet to be resolved.
