U’khand to ban use of names of Dhams in trusts & construction of temples
Cabinet authorises CM to take decision on monsoon session of Assembly
Friday, 19 JULY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Taking note of the widespread anger in the people of the State over use of the names of the sacred temples of Char Dham for constructing temples and forming trusts in different parts of the country, the Uttarakhand government has decided to impose a ban on such practices. A decision in this regard was taken in the meeting of the State cabinet held at the secretariat on Thursday. The cabinet expressed concern on use of names of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri and other temples located in Uttarakhand in construction of temples by trusts/ committees in different parts of the country. The cabinet members were of the view that such activities create confusion in the public and hurt the religious sentiments of the people and decided to formulate strict laws to prevent such practices.
Informing about the cabinet decision, Secretary Shailesh Bagauli said that the department of Religious Affairs will prepare the draft of the regulations in this regard and table it before the State cabinet soon.
The cabinet also decided to set up a centre for Hindu studies at Doon University. Bagauli said the centre will focus on history, culture and religious practices of Hinduism and will be in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP)- 2020 which has laid emphasis on study of Bharatiya Gyan and Parampara by university students.
The cabinet also approved the plan to revise and reduce the charges of Out Patient Department (OPD), In Patient Department (IPD), registration fee, bed charges and ambulance charges at the health centres, sub district and district hospitals of the State. The Health secretary R Rajesh Kumar said that the OPD charges will be Rs 10 at Primary Health Centre (PHC) and Community Health Centres (CHC) and Rs 20 at district and sub district hospitals (DH). Earlier this charge was Rs 13 (PHC), Rs 15 (CHC) and Rs 28 at DH. Similarly the IPD charges at PHC will now be Rs 15, Rs 25 at CHC and Rs 50 at DHs. The admission charges have also been revised and reduced in these health centres. Kumar further informed that the ambulance charges which were Rs 230 for first five kilometres and Rs 63 per kilometre thereafter have been revised to Rs 200 for first five kilometres and Rs 20 per kilometre thereafter. The Health department has also revised the laboratory charges in all the health centres in accordance with the CGHS rates.
In another decision, the cabinet took back its earlier decision to hand over the Naini-Saini airport in Pithoragarh district to the Indian Air Force (IAF) . The State government will now operate this airport. Moving forward on the proposed expansion of the Pantnagar airport in Udham Singh Nagar district, the cabinet approved the plan to transfer 212.4868 hectares of the land, acquired by it to the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
In another important decision the cabinet gave its nod to the proposal of giving contracts up to Rs five lakh to local contractors only. The department of Planning will also impart capacity building training to the local contractors. The proposal to increase the gratuity limit from existing Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh for the State government employees was also approved.
The cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami commenced by paying homage to the martyrs of the State in Kathua attack in Jammu and Kashmir. The cabinet also paid tributes to the Kedarnath MLA Shaila Rani Rawat who passed away recently.
The cabinet authorised Dhami to take decision on the venue and dates of the upcoming monsoon session of Uttarakhand Assembly.
