By which Act, the Jaipur Development Authority was established ?

Correct — option (1), Jaipur Development Authority Act, 1982.

The Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) was established under the Jaipur Development Authority Act, 1982, which is Rajasthan Act No. 25 of 1982.

The Act received the President's assent on 12 October 1982 and was published in the Rajasthan Gazette on 13 October 1982. Section 1 says it came into force at once.

Its preamble sets out the purpose: to form Jaipur City and contiguous areas into a Jaipur Region, and to set up an Authority to plan, co-ordinate and supervise the proper, orderly and rapid development of that region.

Section 3 directs the State Government to establish the JDA by notification, as a body corporate. Section 101 dissolved the Urban Improvement Trust, Jaipur, which the JDA replaced.

Anchor the year to the Act number — Act No. 25 of 1982. The four options differ only in the year, so nothing else in them helps.

Why the others are wrong

• (2)
  Jaipur Development Authority Act, 1983 — The JDA's statute carries the year 1982. The President assented to it on 12 October 1982, and it was published in the Rajasthan Gazette the next day.

  By 1983 the Jaipur Development Authority Act was already law under its 1982 title.

• (3)
  Jaipur Development Authority Act, 1984 — 1984 is not the year of the JDA's Act, which is Act No. 25 of 1982.

  Rajasthan's other development authorities have their own Acts with their own years — the Jodhpur Development Authority Act, 2009 (Act No. 2 of 2009), for example. Learn each Act with its city and its year, so that a year from one does not drift to another.

• (4)
  Jaipur Development Authority Act, 1985 — 1985 moves the Act three years too late. The JDA Act came into force at once on its 1982 enactment.

  A later development authority Act, for another city, is the Ajmer Development Authority Act, 2013 (Act No. 39 of 2013), which covers Ajmer, Kishangarh and Pushkar. Jaipur's Act remains the 1982 one.

A development authority is a statutory body that plans and guides the growth of a whole urban region, not just a municipal area.

The JDA Act lets the Authority prepare a Master Development Plan and zonal development plans, control development and land use in the Jaipur Region, and carry out projects and schemes. It also sets up a Jaipur Traffic Control Board.

A municipal body is different. It is elected and runs civic services under the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009.

Before the JDA, Jaipur's planned development ran through the Urban Improvement Trust, Jaipur, under the Rajasthan Urban Improvement Act, 1959. The 1982 Act dissolved that trust.

Key facts

• The Jaipur Development Authority Act, 1982 is Rajasthan Act No. 25 of 1982; it received the President's assent on 12 October 1982.
• The Act was published in the Rajasthan Gazette on 13 October 1982 and came into force at once.
• Section 3 establishes the JDA as a body corporate, deemed a local authority under the Rajasthan General Clauses Act, 1955.
• Section 101 of the Act dissolved the Urban Improvement Trust, Jaipur.
• The Jodhpur Development Authority Act is of 2009 (Act No. 2) and the Ajmer Development Authority Act of 2013 (Act No. 39).

Common traps

• Choosing by a nearby year. The four options differ only in the year, so the answer rests on remembering Act No. 25 of 1982.
• Confusing the JDA with a municipal body. The JDA is a planning and development authority under its own Act; municipal bodies work under the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009.
• Swapping the city Acts. Jaipur's development authority Act is of 1982, Jodhpur's of 2009 and Ajmer's of 2013.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2021 here once that paper is published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under the Jaipur Development Authority Act, 1982, as amended, who is the Chairman of the Jaipur Development Authority (other than during President's Rule)?

  • (a)District Collector, Jaipur
  • (b)Jaipur Development Commissioner
  • (c)Minister-in-charge of Urban Development of the State of Rajasthan
  • (d)Chief Secretary of Rajasthan
  Answer(3) — Section 4(1)(i) makes the Minister-in-charge of Urban Development the Chairman; a nominee of the Governor takes the post during President's Rule. The District Collector, Jaipur (1) and the Jaipur Development Commissioner (2) are members of the Authority, not its Chairman. The Chief Secretary (4) is not named as Chairman.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following Acts dissolved the Urban Improvement Trust, Jaipur?

  • (a)Rajasthan Urban Improvement Act, 1959
  • (b)Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 1959
  • (c)Jaipur Development Authority Act, 1982
  • (d)Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009
  Answer(3) — Section 101 of the Jaipur Development Authority Act, 1982 dissolved the trust when the JDA was constituted. The Rajasthan Urban Improvement Act, 1959 (1) is the law the trust had worked under. The Municipalities Acts of 1959 (2) and 2009 (4) govern municipal bodies, not the Jaipur trust's dissolution.