Dhami Cabinet clears 19 key decisions related to Infrastructure, Taxation & Welfare
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 10 Dec: A meeting of Uttarakhand Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, was held here today. The Cabinet approved 19 proposals covering infrastructure, taxation, urban planning, education, welfare, and administrative reforms in today’s meeting. Principal Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary Shailesh Bagoli and Director General, Information, Banshidhar Tiwari briefed the media on the cabinet decisions.
The Cabinet adopted the revised Central Government guidelines on compensation for Inter-State Transmission Line construction projects and it has increased the compensation for land occupied by tower foundations and their one-metre periphery to 200 per cent of the prevailing circle rate, as against the earlier provision of 85 per cent. Compensation for transmission lines passing over agricultural fields has also been increased from the earlier 15 per cent of the circle rate to 30, 45, and 60 per cent depending on the voltage of the line. The cabinet decided that a committee will be constituted to examine the gap between circle rates and market rates for the benefit of affected landowners.
In an important decision, the Cabinet granted GST and royalty exemption for materials required for the proposed four-lane Rispana and Bindal Elevated Corridor projects in Dehradun. These corridors, to be executed by the National Highways Authority of India to reduce traffic congestion. The civil construction cost will be borne entirely by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, subject to the State Government meeting expenses related to land acquisition, utility shifting, and providing exemptions amounting to an estimated Rs 575 crore in GST and Rs 46 crore in royalty. The construction agency will pay these charges initially, after which the State Finance Department will reimburse them.
In another important decision, a 50 per cent rebate on Motor Vehicle Tax has been approved for those purchasing a new vehicle of the same category against the scrappage of an old vehicle more than 15 years old. The Central Government will provide special assistance of Rs 50 crores to support this scheme. To promote Green Buildings as recommended by the Central Government, the Cabinet has approved provisions for additional Floor Area Ratio, and the restriction on ground coverage in commercial areas has been removed. The Cabinet has also permitted the construction of resorts on agricultural land without a land use change. So far this facility was permitted for Eco-Resorts only. The height of a parking floor constructed at road level will not be counted in the building’s overall height, while the facility to construct roadside motels has been discontinued. The Town Planning Scheme and the Land Pooling Scheme have been approved.
The Cabinet also cleared the Mukhyamantri Yuva Bhavishya Nirman Yojana, which provides online coaching for competitive examinations to the youth and this would be including UPSC, NET, GATE, NEET, and JEE. The Higher Education Department will arrange live classes and doubt-clearing sessions for UPSC, NET, and GATE, while the Secondary Education Department will oversee NEET and JEE coaching for students of Classes 11 and 12. An institution will be selected to implement the scheme.
The Centre for Aromatic Plants in Selaqui has been renamed the Institute of Perfumery and Aromatic Research. The Jan Vishwas Niyojan Act has been approved to replace imprisonment with financial penalties for minor offences, with seven Acts included in the first phase. Recruitment in Technical Universities will now take place at the University level instead of through the Public Service Commission. In the Public Works Department, employees with ten years of service and a diploma will be eligible for promotion to the post of Junior Engineer, addressing difficulties in finding eligible candidates under earlier norms.
The Cabinet also approved the MoU between the State Government and the Airports Authority of India for Naini Saini Airport, which had earlier been permitted through deviation. Now Airports Authority will operate the Naini Saini Airport. In Sitarganj, for the regularisation of land allotted on lease to affected persons in Kalyanpur, the Cabinet decided to fix the 2004 circle rate in place of the 2016 rate mentioned in the 2025 rules. The subsidy under the Mukhyamantri Ghasiyari Kalyan Yojana and the Silage and Animal Nutrition Scheme has been reduced from 75 per cent to 60 per cent. The formation of a Directorate of Prosecution, as mandated under the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, along with district-level directorates, has also been approved.
