Himachal cabinet gives consent to include sanitary workers in Ayushman Bharat Scheme

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], August 22 : Himachal Pradesh Cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday decided to include sanitary workers of the state under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme to provide them health insurance.
"The cabinet gave its consent to include sanitary workers of the State under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme to provide them with health insurance. It also decided to select and train 874 candidates as patwaris and 16 chain-men to be deployed in the next five years in the State," an official statement said. 
Himachal cabinet also gave the nod to create and fill up 48 posts of different categories for newly set-up three Traffic cum Tourist Police Stations in Bilaspur, Mandi and Kullu districts in order to manage and control traffic and ensure road safety norms on the Kiratpur-Manali four-lane.
During the meeting CM Sukhu also paid tribute to the people who lost their lives due to massive devastation caused by heavy monsoon rains, resulting in heavy loss.
"Revenue Department gave a detailed presentation on disaster management and huge losses incurred to public and private properties," an official statement said. 
Cabinet also decided to amend the Swaran Jayanti Energy Policy, wherein the MoU will be for a period of 40 years. The royalty will be as 15 per cent for the first 12 years, 20 for the next 18 years and 30 per cent for the remaining 10-year period.
"Thereafter, the project shall revert back to the State Government free of cost and free from all encumbrances and liabilities. However, the royalty payable to the State for an extended period will not be less than 50 per cent," an official statement said. 
It also decided to withdraw the relaxation given for staggered free power royalty in favour of SJVNL and NHPC for 210 MW Luhri Stage-I, 66 MW Dhaulasidh, 382 MW Sunni Dam and 500 MW Dugar Hydro Electric Projects with immediate effect.
The Cabinet decided to rationalize the tariff of water cess to be charged from the Hydel Power Projects.
It gave its approval to enhance the financial assistance from Rs 65 thousand to Rs 2 lakh under Himachal Pradesh Widow Remarriage Scheme.
The Cabinet gave its approval to enhance the support price of apple, mango and citrus fruits being procured under the Market Intervention Scheme for the year 2023-24 in the State. Henceforth, the support price of apple and mango will be Rs 12 per kg instead of Rs 10.50.
"Additionally, the support price of Kinnow, Malta and orange has been increased to Rs 12 per kg from Rs 9.50, whereas the support price of galgal and lemon has been enhanced to Rs.10 from Rs 8 per kg," an official statement said. 
"Consent was given to increase the honorarium of Cook cum Helper under Mid Day Meal Yojna from 1st April 2023 to Rs 500 per month, i.e. they will get Rs. 4,000 instead of the existing Rs. 3500 per month, benefitting 21,431 individuals," it added. 
It also decided to enhance the wage rates under MGNREGS from Rs. 224 to Rs. 240 in non-tribal areas and Rs 294 from Rs 280 in tribal areas from August 15, 2023.
Furthermore, the Cabinet also decided to fill up 35 posts of Junior Office Assistants (IT) in the Rural Development Department.
It gave its approval to regularise the services of part-time water carriers in the Education Department who have completed 11 years of combined daily wage and part-time services as of  March 31, 2023, and September 30, 2023.
"Cabinet gave its nod to Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for enumeration, marking, extraction and disposal of salvage trees from the forest land. This will ensure the availability of timber at the local level, reduction in transportation costs, boost in revenue, better and enhanced efficiency of field staff and conversion in raw forms," an official statement said. 
This scheme will open employment avenues to the youth of the State and the State Government would provide a 50 per cent subsidy to purchase e-taxi which will go a long way in reducing pollution and a step forward towards becoming a 'Green State'. It will be implemented from 2nd October 2023.
The Cabinet gave its consent to rename the Labour and Employment Department as the Department of Labour Employment and Overseas Placement.