Cabinet approves honorarium hike for UPNL personnel

By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 12 Oct: In view of the fact that the state assembly elections are due in around 4 months from now, several populist decisions were taken by the Uttarakhand Cabinet, today, the meeting of which was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Cabinet spokesperson Minister Subodh Uniyal briefed the media on the decisions taken. Among the most important decisions taken by the Cabinet today was the proposal to increase the honorarium payable to UPNL employees, ASHA workers, Aanganwadi workers, assistants and mini Aanganwadi workers.
Some more important decisions were taken by the Cabinet. The minimum support price for paddy was revised, and the honorarium paid to the Gram Pradhans was also raised following the CM’s recent announcement in this regard. The Cabinet also approved a proposal to create 246 additional posts in the subordinate judiciary.
Uniyal disclosed that a minimum amount of Rs 6500 would be transferred to the bank accounts of ASHA workers. Out of the increased amount, an amount of Rs 1000 would be given as honorarium and Rs 500 would be deposited as incentive. He added that the Cabinet also approved a proposal to pay the Food & Civil Supplies Department an amount of Rs 14 crores which would be used for payment to the ration shop owners. The Finance Department would transfer this amount to the Food & Civil Supplies Department. This would be reimbursed from the budget received from the Government of India.
The cabinet also approved a proposal to upgrade the hospital in Someshwar (District Almora) to 100 beds capacity. This was also recently announced by the Chief Minister. The Cabinet also approved a proposal to reduce the contingency amount currently charged at 2 percent to 1 percent under the administrative head related to MLA Local Area Fund (MLA-LAD).
Uniyal added that the honorarium of the personnel employed in various government departments through UPNL has been raised by Rs 2,000 per month for those employed for less than 10 years and by Rs 3,000 per month for those employed for more than 10 years. Of course, it remains a fact that the honorarium for UPNL personnel was not increased over past many years and the employees have been agitating for a raise. Although, this is not very significant raise, the cabinet also decided that a certain rise in the honorarium of the UPNL personnel would be granted on an annual basis from now onwards.
The Cabinet also approved a proposal to revise the minimum support price for paddy for the Kharif season 2021-22 to Rs 1940 per quintal for the ordinary grade of paddy and to Rs 1960 per quintal for the higher grade of the paddy.
The cabinet also approved a proposal to raise the honorarium to Gram Pradhans from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 per month as had recently been promised by the CM. In addition, an amount of Rs 20 crores would also be paid to the Gram Panchayats for the construction of 500 Panchayat buildings, out of which an amount of 10 lakhs would be paid against the MNREGA head, 25 percent from Panchayat grant head and 25 percent from the state sector.
As had been announced by the CM, nearly 1,59,015 students of classes 10 and 12 studying in government schools would be given PC tablets. In addition, 1.05 lakh higher education students would also be given tablets. In all, about 3 lakh students would benefit from the scheme.
The cabinet also approved creation of 246 posts of judges for the subordinate courts in the state. In addition, the cabinet also approved creation of 65 posts of stenographer and 65 posts of Data Entry Operators to be filled through outsourcing in the subordinate courts. An amendment was approved in the service rules related to the posts of Medical and Family Welfare Health Worker and Health Supervisor. Creation of 35 posts was approved for the Burns Unit in Doon Medical College. In the departmental structure of the Panchayati Raj Department, the post of an Assistant Director was abolished and the post of a Deputy Director was sanctioned.
It was also decided to make amendments in Uttarakhand Taxation Rules to establish uniformity with that of Uttar Pradesh. The Mining Department would now be headed by an IAS level officer and he would be called Director General.