By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
DEHRADUN, 6 Dec: A total of 28 proposals were submitted before the Cabinet Meeting held this evening under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and all the proposals were approved by the Cabinet. As expected the all important announcement by the Pushkar Singh Dhami some days ago in respect of dissolving the Uttarakhand Devasthanam Board was also taken up at the Meeting and the Cabinet approved the proposal to dissolve the Devasthanam Board. Now that the Cabinet has approved the abolition of the Board, the government would introduce a bill in the assembly to withdraw the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Act. The next assembly session is to be held on December 9 and 10. It is now almost certain that the Devasthanam Act will be withdrawn in the winter session of the Legislative Assembly. Prior to the formation of the Devasthanam Board of Management, the management of Badrinath and Kedarnath was under the Badri-Kedar Temple Committee (BKTC), while Gangotri and Yamunotri had their own temple committees. Now this system is likely to be restored after the dissolution of the board. The Cabinet also approved a proposal to provide medicines free of cost in the OPDs of the government hospitals. The proposal approved also mentions that in addition to the described 103 medicines in Jan Aushadhi Kendra, if the doctorsprescribe branded or outside medicines, then the reason will have to be given to the doctors for that. In another important decision, the Cabinet also approved a proposal that the services of guest teachers working in various government schools would not be discontinued. The services of guest teachers already fired from service in various places recently would be again absorbed and posted as far as possible in their home district only. Similarly, 24 employees of the Transport Department who had been fired recently would be absorbed in other departments now as per the proposal in this regard approved by the Cabinet. The employees fired from services in Polytechnics would also be hired again, the cabinet decided. In another important decision, the Cabinet approved an amendment in Nazul Policy 2018. The Nazul Policy 2021 will be passed in the form of complaint bill. The cabinet also approved a proposal to withhold Panchayat elections due in Haridwar for next 6 months. For this, a bill would be tabled in the House in the upcoming winter session and duly passed. It may be notable here that for past several years, Panchayat polls in Haridwar have been held separately and not along with the Panchayat polls in the rest of the state. The Cabinet also approved Uttarakhand Export Policy- 2021. It is for the first time ever that Uttarakhand Government has come up and enforced an export policy for the state.