New road safety policy to reduce accidents in mountainous areas in U’khand
State cabinet endorses many proposals including increase in pension of former MLAs
PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand government has decided to bring in a road safety policy-2025 to put a check on the number of road accidents in the mountainous areas of the State. A decision in this regard was taken in the meeting of the State cabinet held at the State secretariat on Wednesday. In the meeting chaired by the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, a total of 32 issues were discussed.
In the new road safety policy, the transport department has proposed to create 11 new posts of Assistant Regional Transport Officers (ARTO) with an objective of increasing enforcement of regulations and checking of vehicles in the mountainous areas of the State. The new posts of the ARTO are created in the 10 mountainous districts of the State.
The cabinet also decided to raise the pension of former MLAs from existing Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000. The allowance payable to the former MLAs was also increased from existing Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per year for the number of years served by them as the legislator. The cabinet also approved the proposal to increase the travel allowance given to the MLAs during the period in which the house is in session.s
In an important decision, the cabinet approved the proposal to hand over the task of operation of Pravasi Janshakti recruitment agency to Uttarakhand Purva sainik kalyan Nigam Limited (UPNL). The land for the setting up of the office will be provided by the UPNL free of cost.
A proposal to amend the government order on payment of the incentive to the apple growers under the intensive horticulture scheme was also approved by the State cabinet.
The cabinet also approved the plan to reorganise the departmental structure of the election department of the State. In the new structure there will be 387 posts.
The cabinet approved the proposal of the Forest department under which an incentive of Rs 30,000 per year will be given to the village Panchayat level forest fire safety committees. Under the plan 50 per cent of the amount will be given at the start of the forest fire season and remaining 50 per cent at the end of the season after analysing the performance of the village Panchayat fire safety committee concerned. Every such committee will be allotted 500 to 600 hectares of forest area.
The cabinet also approved the plan of the finance department to reduce VAT on the natural (PNG and CNG) gas which will make the tariff at par with the neighbouring States.
In an important decision aimed at pleasing the employees, the cabinet amended the Leave Travel Concession (LTC) rates. In the new plan the employees having level 10 pay band and higher will be eligible for air travel or first class railway travel. The employees on level VI to IX will be eligible for second class railway fare. The LTC facility is available to the State government employee and his family after completion of five years of service and is given once in 10 years.
In an endeavour to promote winter tourism and tourism activities in the remote areas of the State, the cabinet approved the plan to operate Yatra of Adi Kailash and Om Parvat by M I -17 helicopter.
Cabinet approves State budget 2025-26
DEHRADUN : The Pushkar Singh Dhami cabinet in its meeting held on Wednesday endorsed the State budget-2025-26. The budget estimates are expected to be more than Rs one lakh crore this year. The budget will be tabled by the finance minister Premchand Agarwal during the budget session of the Vidhan Sabha commencing in Dehradun from February 18. It was expected that discussions on the proposed land laws will also be held in the meeting but it is learnt that this was not on the agenda.
