Rajasthan's journey in 2025: Tragedies, tough laws and governance tests

A series of tragedies, passage of a stringent anti-conversion law in the state Assembly, environmental disputes and governance challenges. These are the issues that Rajasthan navigated in 2025 as it pitched long-term growth aligned with national goals. One of the gravest incidents occurred in October when a massive fire blazed through the neuro ICU in Rajasthan's largest Sawai Man Singh government hospital in Jaipur, killing six of the 11 patients on critical care support. Fourteen patients from another ICU on the same floor were also evacuated, and two of them later died. Days later, 40 LPG cylinders exploded one after another on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway after a truck carrying them caught fire following a collision with a tanker. The tanker driver was burned alive, and another man was injured. The incident revived memories of a similar collision on the same highway in December 2024 that killed 19 people. Less than a week later, a private sleeper bus caught fire in Jaisalmer, barely