Rajasthan’s latest cabinet decisions signal a broad policy reset that stretches from environmental protection and family law to rural water delivery, public employment and industrial land use. At a meeting chaired by chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, the state cleared draft legislation that could reshape how trees are protected on private land and how personal laws are handled, while also signing off on a series of administrative and service rule changes that affect government staff, ex-servicemen and rural infrastructure.

The draft laws are expected to be tabled in the upcoming Assembly session, according to the Rajasthan government. Alongside them, the cabinet also approved an operations and maintenance framework for rural drinking water systems, amendments linked to dependents of war casualties, changes in promotion and leave rules for state employees, and land allotments for industry, renewable energy and cultivators displaced by canal works.

Tree protection law would cover 29 species on non-forest land

Among the most closely watched proposals is the Rajasthan Trees (Protection) Bill-2026, which would regulate the cutting of 29 identified tree species on non-forest land. The list includes culturally and ecologically important species such as Khejri, Rohida, Banyan, Peepal, Lasoda, Tendu, Mahua, Kair and Chironji.

Under the draft, any person seeking to fell a specified tree on land that is owned or occupied by them would need prior permission from the authorised authority. Illegal felling would be treated as a cognisable and bailable offence. A conviction could lead to imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to ₹1 lakh, or both, according to the cabinet-approved draft.

The bill also builds in a compensatory plantation requirement. Where a tree is removed with permission, the person concerned would have to plant a prescribed number of trees in the same area for every tree taken down. The move suggests Rajasthan is trying to tighten control over tree loss on private holdings, where enforcement has often been weaker than on notified forest land.

Uniform civil code draft moves into the legislative pipeline

The cabinet also approved the Rajasthan Uniform Civil Code Bill-2026, a draft that covers marriage, divorce, succession, maintenance and live-in relationships. The legislation has been shaped by the recommendations of an expert committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, according to the state government.

The proposed law would not apply to Scheduled Tribes or to communities whose traditional rights are protected under the Constitution. It would, however, require all marriages solemnised after the law comes into force to be registered within 60 days. The draft also bars polygamy, while still allowing marriages to be conducted according to religious and customary practices, including Saptapadi, Nikah, Anand Karaj and Holy Union.

Live-in relationships would also come under a formal reporting framework. The bill provides for written intimation or registration at the start and end of such relationships, bringing them within the state’s legal record-keeping system for the first time in this form.

Registration timelines, penalties and appeal rights

The draft sets out a tight administrative timetable for marriage and divorce registration. A registrar would have to issue a certificate or reject an application in writing within 15 days of receiving the memorandum. If an application is rejected, an appeal could be filed before the registrar general within 30 days, and that appeal would need to be decided within 60 days.

Non-registration of a marriage could attract a penalty of up to ₹10,000. If the person does not comply even after notice, the penalty could rise to ₹25,000. The registrar general would also have the power to impose a penalty of up to ₹25,000 on a registrar for deliberate delay or neglect in the registration process.

The government has, however, built in a safeguard to prevent a paperwork lapse from affecting marital status. Delayed registration or failure to register would not by itself invalidate a marriage under the draft bill.

The law would also open the door to judicial proceedings in disputes over marriage, including cases involving prohibited conduct, consent obtained through coercion or fraud, and impotence. In succession matters, the bill proposes equal inheritance rights for sons and daughters, a provision likely to draw attention given the continuing patchwork of personal law practices across India.

Inheritance rules and live-in oversight form part of the same reform

Where a person dies without leaving a will, property would devolve under three categories of heirs. The first category covers the surviving spouse, children, the spouses and children of deceased children, and parents. The second includes step-parents, siblings, the spouses and children of deceased siblings, siblings of parents and grandparents on both sides. The third category consists of other relatives not covered in the first two.

If no legal heir is identified, the property would pass to the government, subject to any liabilities and obligations attached to it. The draft also recognises succession rights for a child in the womb at the time of death, provided the child is later born alive.

For Rajasthan, the proposed code is as much an administrative reform as a social one. By insisting on registration, timelines and appeal structures, the state appears to be trying to convert family law from a largely private and fragmented domain into one that is more visible to the state and easier to administer. That could improve record-keeping and reduce disputes, but it may also invite legal and political scrutiny once the bill reaches the House.

Rural water policy leans on local institutions and mixed funding

In another major decision, the cabinet approved an operations and maintenance policy for rural water supply. The framework incorporates 19 elements from the Centre’s Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 guidelines and sets out a multi-layered institutional structure spanning gram panchayat, cluster, block, district and state levels.

Daily operation and maintenance of basic infrastructure would rest with gram panchayats and village water and sanitation committees. Cluster-level committees, each covering five to six gram panchayats, would provide technical support. The Public Health Engineering Department and the Rajasthan Water Supply and Sewerage Corporation would remain the principal service delivery institutions.

Funding for repairs and upkeep would be drawn from tied funds of the Central and State Finance Commissions, State Finance Commission funds, budget allocations, MLA and MP funds, District Mineral Foundation Trust funds and consumer charges. Repair work may also be taken up under the VB-G RAM G scheme, according to the cabinet note.

The policy matters because rural water supply schemes often fail not at the point of creation, but at the point of maintenance. By assigning clearer responsibility and widening the funding basket, Rajasthan is trying to reduce the familiar gap between new infrastructure and reliable service delivery.

Rules for soldiers’ families, employees and compassionate appointments change

The cabinet also cleared an amendment to the Rajasthan Appointment of Dependents of Deceased (Martyred) Armed Forces Personnel Rules, 2022. The change relates to 35 Rajasthan soldiers who were seriously injured in the 1971 India-Pakistan War and later died between January 1 and October 31, 1972. They have been classified as Battle Casualty (Fatal) under Operation Cactus Lily.

By extending the benefit window from December 31, 1971 to October 31, 1972, the state has opened the door for one eligible family member of each of the 35 soldiers to receive government employment. The decision is likely to be seen as a long-delayed recognition of families that had previously fallen outside the earlier cutoff date.

Separately, the cabinet approved changes affecting government employees. It has granted a two-year relaxation in the required experience for promotion during 2026-27 for employees who did not receive the benefit in 2023-24, 2024-25 or 2025-26. The Rajasthan Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Amendment) Rules-2026 were also cleared, under which government employees with disabilities will receive notional benefits from June 30, 2016 under the four per cent reservation for promotion.

The daughter-in-law of a deceased government employee has also been added to the list of eligible dependents for compassionate appointment. In a further tweak to the Rajasthan Service Rules-1951, employees appointed to gazetted posts who resign during training or within two years of completing training will now have only the training cost recovered, not salary and allowances. Where resignation follows a fresh appointment in a state or central government department or undertaking, neither training expenditure nor salary and allowances paid during training will be recovered.

Child care leave rules have also been liberalised for single-woman government employees, who will now be allowed to take leave in six spells in a calendar year instead of three. In cases of motherhood through surrogacy, the surrogate mother will get 180 days of maternity leave, while the commissioning mother will receive 90 days.

Recruitment, promotions and land use round out the package

On the recruitment side, the cabinet amended the Rajasthan Tribal Area Development State and Subordinate Service (Recruitment and Other Conditions of Service) Rules-2001 to ease hiring for wardens in government residential schools and hostels. The changes introduce provisions on the examination pattern, negative marking, minimum qualifying marks of 40 per cent and the syllabus. They will also enable recruitment to 470 posts of Hostel Superintendent Grade-II, including 254 posts of Hostel Superintendent (Female) Grade-II, through the Rajasthan Subordinate and Ministerial Services Common Eligibility Test.

Further amendments to the Rajasthan Forest Subordinate Service Rules-2015 are designed to support promotions from Forest Guard to Assistant Forester, from Assistant Forester to Forester and from Surveyor to Junior Engineer. The Rajasthan Integrated Child Development (State and Subordinate) Service Rules-1998 were also updated to include the posts of Joint Director and Programme Director or Additional Director within the Integrated Child Development Service.

Land and industry decisions formed another large part of the meeting. The cabinet approved the allotment of about 306 hectares of industrial land in Parewar village in Jaisalmer district to UltraTech Cement Limited. It also cleared land allotments for four renewable energy projects, including about 228 hectares in Barju village of Pugal tehsil in Bikaner district and about 485 hectares in Ramgarh Barani South village of Ramgarh-2 Colonisation tehsil in Jaisalmer district for solar projects.

Another proposal covers about 178 hectares in Toga and Nimba villages of Fatehgarh tehsil in Jaisalmer district and about 51 hectares in Likri village of Shiv tehsil in Barmer district for a solar-wind hybrid project, subject to prescribed conditions and pricing.

The cabinet also approved a special allotment for 21 non-khatedar cultivators affected by the construction of the Escape Reservoir at RD 1121 in Chinnu village of Nachna-1 Colonisation tehsil, Jaisalmer district. About 722 bighas of their land had been taken in 1999 for an escape channel at Burji 1121 of the Indira Gandhi Main Canal, but the acquisition process was never completed and alternative land was not provided. The new allotment is intended to resolve a long-running grievance linked to canal infrastructure and water storage.

For Rajasthan, Thursday’s decisions show a cabinet trying to move on several fronts at once: tighter environmental regulation, a more standardised family law regime, better rural water upkeep, and a set of service and land measures aimed at smoothing governance and investment. The political test will come when the draft bills reach the Assembly and the government has to defend the balance it has struck between reform, rights and administrative control.

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