Wednesday, 21 December 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
In an attempt to give an impetus to the development of the State, the Uttarakhand government has decided to develop the State on the basis of the hub spoke model. For this the State cabinet in its meeting on Tuesday approved the Uttarakhand Logistics Policy- 2022. The meeting was chaired by the chief minister Puskhar Singh Dhami.
Informing about the cabinet decisions, secretary Shailesh Bagauli said that the objective of the new policy is to set up a simple, active and responsible system under which new inland container depots, cold storage and other logistics infrastructure would be constructed, developed and connected with road and railways. The hub spoke logistic model would help in strengthening the economic relations between the plain and mountainous areas so that benefits of the commercial value chains are achieved. The policy would also promote private investment in the State by developing forward and backward linkages. The existing warehouses would be upgraded and handholding would be provided to the new logistic operators under the new policy. In another decision the cabinet approved the proposal to extend the benefit of free textbook scheme to all the students of classes IX to XII enrolled in the government and the aided schools of the State from the next academic session. In another decision, the cabinet gave its approval to the Uttarakhand State parking policy (site selection, construction and operation) – 2022.
In a major decision the cabinet gave its nod for selection of a consultancy firm for designing the master plans for Jageshwar Dham in Almora and Mahasu Devta temple in Dehradun district. The government plans to develop these temples on the lines of Kedarnath. The tourism department has selected INI design, Ahmedabad for providing architecture service and design consultancy of these temples. The policy addresses the problem of traffic congestion by providing adequate parking space for the vehicles.
The cabinet also approved the proposal to open a single bid of L&T company for different works of Rs 3,358.75 crore in the Lakhwad multipurpose project. In the meeting the cabinet also approved the proposal of the housing department that there would be no need for land use change in the land released by the Indian railways under its monetisation policy.
The amendment in the Uttarakhand secretariat service regulation was approved by the State cabinet under which the age limit has been changed from existing 18-35 years to 18 to 30 years. Similarly the minimum educational qualification has been increased from class X to XII now.
In another decision the cabinet gave its acceptance to the proposal for reorganisation of the technical cadre in the Public Works Department (PWD). The cabinet approved the proposal to amend the University of Engineering and Technology act 2020 in its meeting on the day.
In another important decision the cabinet approved the proposal to provide 100 per cent rebate to city bus owners in motor vehicle tax for the buses operating in the urban areas and increase the existing 50 per cent rebate in motor vehicle tax to the buses of state transport corporations operated in mountainous areas to 75 per cent. Both these incentives would cause loss of Rs 2.54 crore to the State exchequer every year. The loss would be compensated by the Union government under the urban reform claim head as per the guidelines on the scheme for special assistance to the States for capital investment for 2022-23 of the government of India.
The disabled persons in the State would also receive the benefit of 25 per cent rebate in the stamp duty for mutation of the properties up to Rs 25 lakh. At present this rebate is provided to the women of the State.
