Maru Pradesh is a geographical, cultural, social, economic, political and linguistic region of the

Thar Desert The Thar Desert (), also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of in India and Pakistan. It is the world's 18th-largest desert, and the world's 9th-large ...

in the

Northwest India Northwest India is a loosely defined administrative divisions of India, region of India. In modern-day, it consists of north-western states of the India, Republic of India. In historical contexts, it refers to the northwestern Indian subcontin ...

. It is also a proposed state in India with its proposed capital being

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. It is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Fo ...

, the Central city of Maru Pradesh. It would be carved out from the state of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. The proposed state would consist the districts of

Jalore Jalore () (ISO 15919 : ''Jālora'' ), also known as Granite City, is a city in the western Indian state of Rajasthan. It is the administrative headquarters of Jalore District. It has a river known as Jawai Nadi. Jalore lies to south of Sukri ...

Balotra Balotra is a city situated in the Balotra district within the state of Rajasthan, India. Previously, it was located in the Barmer district of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is known for its historical and cultural significance, as well as it ...

, Barmer,

Sanchore Sanchore is a city, which is located, about 135 km from Jalore, Jalore City in Jalore district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as headquarters of Sanchore Tehsil, Tehshil. The town is located o ...

Sirohi Sirohi is a town, located in Sirohi district in southern Rajasthan state in western India. It is the administrative headquarters of Sirohi District and was formerly the capital of the princely state of Sirohi ruled by Deora Chauhan Rajput ...

, Didwana Kuchaman,

Hanumangarh Hanumangarh is a city and municipal council in the Indian state of Rajasthan, situated on the banks of the river Ghaggar also identified as ancient Sarasvati river, located about 400 km from Delhi. It is the administrative headquarter o ...

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed ''The Golden city'', is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur, in the heart of the Thar Desert. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer district ...

Jhunjhunu Jhunjhunu is a city and municipal council in the state of Rajasthan in India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jhunjhunu district. It is also the largest city of the Shekhawati region, which includes Jhunjhunu, Churu and Sikar ...

Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...

, Jodhpur Rural,

Nagaur Nagaur (also Nagor and Nagore) is a city and municipal council in Nagaur district of the state of Rajasthan in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Nagaur District. The Nagaur city lies about midway between Jodhpur and Bikaner. Na ...

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

Phalodi Phalodi is a city in Phalodi district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is the headquarters for Phalodi district. Phalodi is also called the "salt city" due to the salt industry in Rin. Phalodi is in the buffer zone of Thar Desert and ofte ...

Anupgarh Anupgarh is a town in the Sri Ganganagar district of the state of Rajasthan in India. It is about 123 km from the city of Sri Ganganagar, the district headquarters. Geography Anupgarh has an average elevation of 155 metres (508 feet ...

Sikar Sikar is a city and municipal council in the Sikar district of the state of Rajasthan in India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Sikar district. It is largest city of the Shekhawati region, which consists of Sikar, Churu and Jhu ...

, Churu,

Sri Ganganagar Sri Ganganagar is the northernmost city of the Indian state of Rajasthan, near the international border of India and Pakistan. It is the administrative headquarters of Sri Ganganagar district. It is named after Maharaja Shri Ganga Singh Bahad ...

Beawar Beawar () is a city in Beawar district of Rajasthan, India. Beawar was the financial capital of Merwara state of Rajputana. As of 2011, the population of Beawar city is 151152 (1 lakh fifty one thousand one hundred fifty two). It is located ...

History

When Rajasthan was being formed,

and

states strongly opposed the merger of Rajasthan, and both states favoured creating a desert state. It is said that the then ruler of Jodhpur,

Hanwant Singh Hanwant Singh I of Marwar (16 June 1923 – 26 January 1952) was the last ruler of the third largest Indian Kingdom of Marwar. He succeeded his father as the Maharaja of Jodhpur of the Rathore dynasty of Marwar on 9 June 1947 and held the ti ...

, went to the first

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

wearing a black turban in protest against the merger into Rajasthan. Following this, in 1953, Pratap Singh, the former Minister of Bikaner State, protested against the merger of Rajasthan and Bikaner not being constituted as a desert state. He named the protest Bikaner Bandh. In 1956, when new states were formed, many memoranda were also given, and the government ignored the international border, citing security. From time to time, voices in different parts arose in support of the proposed Maru Pradesh. Former MP Swami Keshavanand not only voiced his opinion but also wrote in his book, ''Marubhoomi Seva'', that the entire development of this desert will happen only when this desert becomes a separate state. Gumanmal Lodha started this movement in Jodhpur and became an MP from Pali District. In 1998, Former Maharaja Gajsingh of Jodhpur said that this desert would be developed by becoming a desert state. Amrit Nahata, MP from Barmer, the author Dilsukh Rai Chaudhary Sikar, Chandra Prakash Deora of Jodhpur, former foreign minister

Jaswant Singh Major Jaswant Singh (3 January 193827 September 2020) was an Indian Army officer and politician. He was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and was one of India's longest serving parliamenta ...

, and others also voiced protests. When Prime Minister

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

created three new states in 2000, former Chief Minister of Rajasthan

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (23 October 1923 – 15 May 2010) was an Indian politician who served as the vice president of India. He served in that position from August 2002, when he was elected to a five-year term by the electoral college fol ...

wrote a letter saying that creating Maru Pradesh would support the development of the entirety of Rajasthan and the internal security of the country. In 2014 Sona Ram, a former MP from Barmer also raised the demand for the development of the desert. Similarly, Congress leader Rameshwar Lal Dudi, Bhadra former MLA Suresh Chaudhary, and MP and RLP leader Hanuman Beniwal have also expressed support for Maru Pradesh. In 2018 Hanuman Singh Khangata and BJP Leader Gajendra Singh Rajpurohit Tunkliya said that a separate state is our need and now the time has come to protest. Rajpurohit said that no matter who the government is, we will take the movement forward. He informed about the outline of the movement of the Maru Pradesh Morcha and said that after the announcement of the visit of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, the Morcha will also take out the Maru Pradesh Yatra and will make the public aware.

Demographics

Per the Census 2011 data, the total population of the proposed state is 28,132,949.

History

Demographics

References

Further reading