Cabinet nod to formulation of election rules for Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 4

Haryana has moved a step closer to holding the first-ever elections to the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC).

A meeting of the state Cabinet, held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal, today accorded approval to the proposal regarding the formulation of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (Delimitation of wards and elections), Rules, 2023.

Other important decisions

• Engaging women self-help groups (SHGs) as service providers in the Rural Water Supply Scheme under the Jal Jeevan Mission
• Nod to the draft of the standard operating procedure (SOP) for three state police awards
• Approval to the amendments in Freight Assistance Scheme notified under the Haryana Enterprises and Employment Policy, 2020
• Now the widow pension beneficiaries, who have attained the age of 60 years, will be covered under the Old Age Pension Scheme
• Go ahead to amendments in the Haryana Outstanding Sportspersons (Group A, B and C) Service Rules, 2021

The tenure of the ad hoc committee, constituted to manage and supervise the affairs of the HSGMC, is going to expire after 18 months.

In order to provide better autonomous management and effective supervision of Sikh gurdwaras and gurdwara properties in the state, the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014, was enacted by the state government.

On September 20, 2022, the SC had dismissed a writ petition regarding the constitution of a separate HSGMC, paving the way for the holding of fresh elections.

Women SHGs: The Cabinet decided to introduce a new scheme for engaging women self-help groups (SHGs) as service providers in the Rural Water Supply Scheme under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). The scheme aims to give an opportunity to the SHG members to earn an additional livelihood as well as gram panchayats to increase the revenue from the residents while promoting water conservation.

Police awards: The Cabinet gave nod to the draft of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for three state police awards. Earlier, the Cabinet had approved the three state police awards — “Chief Minister’s Medal for Bravery”, “Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation” and “DGP’s Uttam Seva Medal” to recognise and reward outstanding detection, investigation, bravery and outstanding performance of duties by Haryana police personnel.

The awardees of the “Chief Minister Medal for Bravery” and the “Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation” will get a one-time cash reward of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively. Besides this, the winners will also get a certificate/scroll signed by the Chief Minister and Home Minister, respectively. A six months’ extension in service after retirement for Group-B and C police personnel will also be given.

The awardees of the “DGP’s Uttam Seva Medal” will get a one-time cash reward of Rs 50,000 along with a certificate/scroll signed by the Director General of Police.

Freight assistance scheme: The Cabinet today accorded approval to the amendments in Freight Assistance Scheme notified under the Haryana Enterprises and Employment Policy, 2020. As per the new amendments, freight subsidy of Rs 25 lakh would be provided to defray the transportation cost from premises of the unit to the seaport/air cargo/international borders to make the exports from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) competitive in the global market.

Widows’ pension: The Cabinet also approved amendment in the widow and destitute women pension scheme. Now the beneficiaries, who have attained the age of 60 years or above, will be covered under the Old Age Pension Scheme. To be eligible for pension, the women must be residing in Haryana for the last 15 years and her income should be less than Rs 3 lakh per annum.

Sports policy: The Cabinet gave nod to amendments in the Haryana Outstanding Sportspersons (Group A, B and C) Service Rules, 2021. As per the new amendments, now ‘sports events’ means all events of sports, which will not be limited by weight category. This amendment has been carried out to benefit those sportspersons whose events are not played in Olympics/Commonwealth/Asian Games and they win medals on other sports competitions.

Panchayat rules: The Cabinet granted approval to the amendment in the Haryana Panchayati Raj Rules of 1995. These will now be called Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Rules of 2023. The amendment authorised the state government to instruct a gram panchayat, panchayat samiti, or zila parishad to carry out specific functions, duties, or implement development work using their respective funds.

Amendment in backward classes Act: The Cabinet accorded approval to a proposal regarding the amendment in the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in educational institutions act) Act 2016. The Union Government had amended Scheduled Castes order, 1950, to include seven castes of Haryana in the list of Scheduled Castes pertaining the state. These are Aheria, Aheri, Heri, Hari, Thori, Turi and Rai Sikh. Since these castes were also listed as backward classes (A), now these seven castes are being deleted from BC (A) list.

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