RAS question
The Rajasthan Canal (now Indira Gandhi Canal) was started during whose chief ministership?
Correct answer: (D) Mohan Lal Sukhadia.
The Rajasthan Canal, later renamed the Indira Gandhi Canal, was started on 31 March 1958 during Mohan Lal Sukhadia's chief ministership.
Explanation
The Rajasthan Canal project was initiated on 31 March 1958, which places its start squarely in Mohan Lal Sukhadia's chief ministership. The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Museum profile identifies Sukhadia as a Chief Minister who served an uninterrupted 17-year tenure, and his term ran from 1954 to 1971. The year 1958 falls inside Sukhadia's long tenure, not under the earlier or later chief ministers. The project was then known as the Rajasthan Canal and was renamed the Indira Gandhi Canal in 1984, so the older and newer names refer to the same canal.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Jai Narayan Vyas served only briefly, whereas the canal's 31 March 1958 start falls within Mohan Lal Sukhadia's 1954-1971 tenure.
- (B) Barkatullah Khan became Chief Minister later, so he cannot match a project initiation dated 31 March 1958.
- (C) Hiralal Shastri was Rajasthan's first Chief Minister, but the canal project came later, during Sukhadia's chief ministership.
Concept
Post-independence Rajasthan history links major development projects with chief ministerial tenures. RAS often frames such facts through dates, renamed institutions, and the political leader in office when a project began.