Situated in the south-eastern region
of Rajasthan, Jhalawar district has
a rocky but water-laden verdant
landscape. The district is famous for its
exquisite pre-historic cave paintings and
thickly-wooded forests. It has an exotic variety
of wildlife. Apart from its natural
beauty, the district has undergone substantial
development in various fields.Rohit Gupta, an IITian who did his internship at the Fraunhofer Institute, Germany, was working in the private sector before he joined the IAS in 2006. Briefly describing his work in the districts, Gupta says, “ I was posted to Jhalawar in October 2010. My first project for the district was the Online Leave Management System for sub-division level officers and doctors. Through this system the public can check which officers or doctors are on leave on any given day. This system is now being replicated at the State level also. We have also successfully reduced the number of child deliveries at home through various meetings with people and explaining to them the detailed mobility plans for the expectant mothers at the time of their ANC registration. We have also hired ambulances in the case of emergency for the people in the district. As a result, the number of home deliveries has come down to 900 as against 1800 in 2010”.
The Collector also explains various schemes for the girl child undertaken by the district administration. He says, “To encourage full immunization and girl child education, a scheme called Swasthya Nidhi Yojana has been launched with the help of private donors. Also 15 students belonging to economically weaker families were selected after conducting a talent examination under the “Jhalawar Pratibha Protsahan Yojana” in July with the help of leading coaching institutes of Kota. These students are now getting IIT/Medical coaching free of cost in Kota and are also being paid a monthly stipend conditional to their performance in the class. The other projects include Tracking Software to ensure timely payments under the JSY and NREGA. CCTV cameras have been installed in key positions in the District Collectorate and the District Hospital for better vigilance”.
Rohit Gupta however, is very much concerned about the decreased sex ratio in the district. He says, “There is a decrease in the sex ratio in the 0-6 age group as per the 2011 census in comparison to the 2001 census. The administration is making efforts to devise a suitable tracking system to ensure that ultrasound centres in the district are monitored closely and cases of non-reporting of births are identified. The use of modern technology such as CCTV is also being explored for this purpose. Education and awareness levels are also not very high, especially in remote and interior parts of the district. Since the use of technology is imperative to monitor performance, the SMS-based attendance monitoring system for teachers and the field staff of other departments is in the pipeline.
