Shimla, July 28 (UNI) The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet, presided over by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, on Thurs- day decided to provide a six percent subsidy to fruit growers on the purchase of packaging materials like cartons from the HP Horticulture Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC) from July 15. The HPMC would be given a grant of Rs. 10 crores for this purpose, an official statement said.
The Cabinet also gave its nod to implement a scheme for revision of pay scales as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) for the teaching and academic staff of the universities and colleges in the state. The financial implication of the UGC revised pay scales would be approximately Rs 337 crore with effect from January 1, 2016, to March 31, 2022.
The annual expenditure on this account will be approximately Rs 113 crore for 2021-22, whereas for the current financial year it would be Rs 75 crore. It approved reducing the minimum bus fare for the first two kilometers for bus services in the state from Rs. 7 to Rs. 5. The Cabinet further approved to convert 452 posts of ‘builders’ in the Jal Shakti Vibhag to pump operators and in- duct those Jal Rakshks who have completed 12 years or more of regular service on December 31, 2020, but do not fulfill the educational qualification. It approved a proposal to engage 780 Asha Workers under the National Health Mission, the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), and non-NUHM. Further, it gave approval to fill 164 additional posts of various categories for a newly constructed 100-bedded wing in Kamla Nehru State Hospital for Mother and Child Care in Shimla to provide better health services to the mother and child. Also, it was decided to fill 54 posts of different categories in the Local Audit Department. The Cabinet also approved to declare Ary- abhatta Geo-Informatics and Space Application Centre (AGiSAC) as the nodal agency to facilitate the use of spatial and geospatial technology in vari- ous departments for decision-making and planning of developmental activities in the State. The Centre would function as the nodal agency for the use of these technologies for sustainable development, besides serving as a repository of data relating to natural resources in the state.
