Himachal Cabinet approves quota for OBCs in urban local bodies

The state government today decided to provide reservation to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) people in urban local bodies so as to give them representation proportionate to their population. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu here.

The Cabinet approved the constitution of a Backward Classes commission so as to compile accurate data about their population before finalising the reservation roster. To strengthen healthcare services in remote and tribal regions, it gave approval for the engagement of 290 additional ASHA workers.

In the light of widespread devastation caused by torrential rain and flashfloods, the Cabinet granted ex-post facto approval for providing financial assistance in the form of rent support to the affected families residing in relief camps. These families would receive the rent assistance through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to their bank accounts at the rate of Rs 5,000 per month in rural areas and Rs 10,000 per month in urban areas for a maximum of six months.

The Cabinet also gave nod to the establishment of a Tourism investment promotion council under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, to approve projects of more than Rs 50 crore each. The council would process the cases within 30 days.

To check illegal activities at manufacturing units, it decided to post two Home Guard jawans each at distilleries, bottling and brewery plants. It also approved the posting of a State Taxes and Excise Officer each at such plants, with mandatory rotation within the same district after a prescribed period.

The Cabinet granted a one-time relaxation of two years in the upper age limit for candidates appearing in the competitive examinations for Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) and Junior Basic Teacher (JBT) posts to be conducted by the HP Rajya Chayan Aayog. It also decided to reserve one seat per course for orphans in all government, government-aided and private technical institutions, including ITIs, polytechnics, engineering and pharmacy colleges in the state.

The Cabinet constituted a sub-committee under the chairmanship of Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi to identify land to set up international-level satellite townships.

Urban Development Minister Vikramaditya Singh, Town and Country Planning Minister Rajesh Dharmani and Ayurveda Minister Yadvinder Goma will be the members of the committee.

The committee will submit its report to the state government within three months. It will identify land in the areas bordering Punjab and Haryana for setting up satellite townships of international standards.

Solan MC to have uniform water tariffs

• The Cabinet decided to make water tariff rates uniform in the Municipal Corporation of Solan area irrespective of who was the service provider by applying the rates of the Jal Shakti Department to benefit water consumers of the region
• The Cabinet approved the auction of 10 minor mineral quarries in Kangra district and the re-auction of 11 such quarries in Bilaspur district to generate a revenue of Rs 18.82 crore
• It also decided to exclude the Amar stadium and the Panchayat Ghar at Bela in Ward No. 8 from the Municipal Council of Nadaun in Hamirpur district
• A Cabinet sub-committee constituted under the chairmanship of Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi to identify land to set up international-level satellite townships