Chief Minister Sharma approves Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme-2024

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], September 29 : In a cabinet meeting held on Sunday at the Chief Minister's Office, chaired by Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, the Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme-2024 (RIPS-2024) was introduced to encourage industrial investment. Several significant decisions regarding employee welfare, journalist welfare, solar energy, and state development were also made, according to the Rajasthan Chief Minister's Public Relations Cell.
Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel addressed the press conference, providing details on the cabinet's decisions.
Deputy Chief Minister Kumari remarked, "The government aims to attract maximum investment for the Rising Rajasthan Global Investment Summit, scheduled from December 9-11. The RIPS-2024, approved at the cabinet meeting, is the most attractive investment promotion scheme in the country in terms of concessions for investors."
She also highlighted that the minimum age and experience requirements for the accreditation of freelance journalists have been lowered.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Jogaram Patel stated, "To ensure transparency and uniformity in recruitment, the educational qualification for Class IV and equivalent posts has been raised from 5th and 8th grade to 10th grade. These positions will now be filled through written examinations conducted by the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board, replacing the previous interview process."
Similarly, he added that the educational qualification for the post of driver has been raised from an 8th-grade pass to a 10th-grade pass. To standardise driver designations across various service rules, only one designation for drivers will now be used. Recruitment for drivers will also be conducted through written examinations by the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board.
The decisions concerning drivers and Class IV employees are significant steps towards fulfilling the state government's commitment to providing 1 lakh government jobs this year. Currently, around 60,000 Class IV positions are vacant across various state departments, and these will be filled in the future. The government has also issued a notification to recruit 23,820 sanitation workers through local bodies.
During recruitment for Class IV positions, a large number of applicants, including graduates, postgraduates, and LLB holders, applied. However, due to the selection process being based on interviews, departments faced challenges, and recruitment for these positions has been delayed for many years.
Patel further announced that the cabinet has approved a pay scale increase for the Establishment Officer of the Rajasthan Subordinate Office Ministerial Service, raising it from Pay Level L-15 to L-16 under the Rajasthan Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2017.
He also informed that the provisions for relaxing two years of required experience for promotion during the DPC year 2024-25 were not initially included in the Rajasthan Governor's Secretariat (State, Subordinate, Ministerial and Class-4) Service Rules, 2024. This occurred because the service rules were finalised after the amendment processes for the experience relaxation notification had been completed. Today's cabinet meeting approved the inclusion of these provisions, as stated in the notification issued on July 5, 2024.
Additionally, a provision was introduced allowing Senior Ayurveda Medical Officers and equivalent posts in the AYUSH Department to receive an advance salary increment for obtaining a postgraduate degree while in service.
Patel also announced that, to ensure clarity and align rules with other departments, amendments were approved to the Rajasthan Rural Development and Panchayati Raj State and Subordinate Service Rules-1998. The amendment removed entries for abolished posts in the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department, such as Assistant Programme Officer, Accounts Assistant, and various coordinators. Vacant Junior Engineer positions in this department will now be filled through open competition and written exams conducted by the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board. This ensures uniformity in the recruitment process for Junior Engineers across all departments.