Pandit Hiralal Shastri was an Indian politician and the first chief minister of Rajasthan state in northern India. He was in office from March 30, 1949[1] to January 5, 1951. In 1929, Hiralal Shastri selected a remote and backward village Banasthali, 72 km from Jaipur and founded 'Jeevan Kutir' there. Here he trained a group of social workers and endeavoured to implement a programme of rural reconstruction. On October 6, 1935 Hiralal Shastri and Ratan Shastri founded Banasthali Vidyapith in memory of their daughter Shantabai.