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All panchayats in Himachal computerized, have all facilities, adequate staff: HP Govt
Owing to the successful enforcement of 50 percent reservation policy for women, 58 percent of elected PRI representatives in this hill state are women, it said.
Shimla: Amid allegations of minimal development ahead of the assembly polls, Himachal Pradesh Government claims to have made the state a role model in the implementation of the Panchayati Raj system in India.
In an official statement, the government released some statistics claiming success in implementation of the Panchayati Raj system in the state.
Owing to the successful enforcement of 50 percent reservation policy for women, 58 percent of elected PRI representatives in this hill state are women, it said.
The government claimed that all PRI’s are now entirely computerized, have all infrastructural facilities, adequate staff and frequent training are being organized.
Hundreds of vacant posts were filled in various PRIs and more will be filled in future, it claimed. The statement said Rs. 48.06 crore has been further approved for various activities in the PRIs. The honorarium of elected representatives of the PRIs was also enhanced, said the statement.
Out of the approved amounts of Rs. 48.06 crore under Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan, Rs. 7.42 crores will be spent on the renovation of 226 Panchayat Ghars and Rs.7.50 crores for the construction of new Panchayat Ghars.
A State Panchayat Resource Center will be constructed at Mashobra, Shimla, at a cost of Rs.1.25 crore. Rs.1.56 crore will be spent on construction of 13 block level resource centres. Further for the construction of District Panchayat Resource Centers at Mandi, Solan, Hamirpur, Shimla, Kangra, Kinnaur and Bilaspur, Rs.2.50 crore will be spent on each.
Rs. 50 lakh will be spent on development of Panchayati Raj Institution, Baijnath.
The Mission Mode Project (e-Panchayat project) of the Government of India has proposed 11 core software applications for the PRIs, and Himachal has already provided seven of them. Training sessions related to using these softwares for the officials of the Panchayats/Departments were organized at the Panchayati Raj Training Institute, Mashobra. The PRIs have started working on these software applications, said the statement.
In order to make the panchayats free from stray cattle, the government has rolled out a scheme under which two best panchayats in each block will be awarded Rs.7.80 crore prize money.
The honorarium of elected representatives of the PRIs was increased from July 1, 2016, from Rs.5910 to Rs.7000 per month. The honorarium for the tailoring teachers was increased from Rs.2300 to Rs.2600 per month.
Two Assistant Engineers, 172 Junior Engineers, 12 Junior Scale Stenographers, 1297 Panchayat Secretaries and 10 Junior Accountants were regularised, said the statement.
Some amendments have been made in HP Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 to ensure attendance, it said.
As per the amendment, the Gram Sabha meetings will be held in the month of January, April, July, and October in such a manner that all panchayats are covered in a district in each of such months. The quorum for the general meeting of Gram Sabha has been reduced from one-third to one-fourth.
To discuss the issues relating to the women and children and other issues, a provision has been made to organize two Mahila Gram Sabhas – first on March 8 and second on first Sunday of September in every Gram Sabha.
So far, 400 vacant posts of Panchayat Sahayaks were filled and 200 more posts of Panchayat Sahayaks will be filled. Further, 33 posts under various categories of Class-III and Class-IV have been created in the PRIs.
Further, the government claimed that the accounts and records of the PRIs are properly maintained with complete transparency and accountability in the functioning of the department.
Photo: RGPRS
Shimla-Himachal Pradesh Government employees working in different departments before January 3, 2022, would be given a higher scale at par with other employees on completion of two years tenure of regular service. A higher pay scale was also announced for the Junior Office Assistants (IT) on completion of two years of regular service.
Chief Minister Jairam Thakur made these announcements during the Karamchari Maha Sammelan of the Himachal Pradesh Non-Gazetted Employees Federation at the hotel Peterhof on Sunday.
He appreciated the role played by the employee especially frontline workers in the battle against the pandemic.
He said most of the government employees in the state have been given revised pay scales and on average, every employee has got the benefit of a 12 to 15 percent salary hike. There has also been an increase in the pension of about 1.50 lakh pensioners of the state. The financial benefits of Rs. 7801 crore have been given to state government employees and pensioners from the year 2018 to 2022. The pensioners who retired before 2016 are getting the benefit of a 15 to 20 percent increase in the pension while around 40 thousand pensioners who retired after 2016 would be benefitted soon, he said.
He said the daily wages were Rs. 210 in the year 2017 which has been increased by the present state government to Rs. 350. Similarly, 12 per cent interim relief annually has been provided to government employees and pensioners during the present government’s tenure. He said the Himachal government has provided Dearness Allowance to its employees and pensioners on the lines of Punjab and Central governments from the due date. The Punjab government has given only 5 percent interim relief to the employees while the Himachal government has provided 21 percent interim relief to its employees.
“Out of the total interim relief amount given to the employees and pensioners amounting to about Rs. 6500 crore, Rs. 3500 crore has been paid during the tenure of our government” added the Chief Minister.
He said that the state government has increased the government contribution for NPS employees from 10 percent to 14 percent benefitting more than one lakh employees. The NPS employees are being given the benefits of retirement and death gratuity at par with employees falling under the old pension scheme. The government has also increased the upper limit of death gratuity from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh.
The Chief Minister said the state government has also increased the honorarium of para-workers working in various departments. The salary of outsource workers has been hiked by Rs 1,500 per month.
Non-Gazetted Employees Federation President Ashwani Thakur thanked the Chief Minister for providing various financial and other benefits to different categories of government employees.
New Delhi-The Centre has issued a notification to the States informing that the provisions of the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005 will not be invoked in the country after March 31. The Union Health Ministry said that the use of face masks and following hand hygiene will continue.
It implies that most of the Covid-related rules and restrictions would end.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla issued the notification which said that the decision was taken following the overall improvement in the situation and the preparedness of the government in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, local authorities and State police can still invoke fines and criminal cases against persons violating COVID-19 norms under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), a senior government official said.
The DM Act was invoked on March 24, 2020, due to the pandemic
“Over the last seven weeks or so there has been a steep decline in the number of cases. The total caseload in the country stands at 23,913 only and the daily positivity rate has declined to 0.28%. It is also worth mentioning that with the combined efforts, a total of 181.56 Cr vaccine doses have been administered,” the notification said.
“I would like to mention that in view of the nature of the disease, we still need to remain watchful of the situation. Wherever any surge in the number of cases is observed, the States/UTs may consider taking prompt and proactive action at a local level, as advised by MoHFW (Health Ministry) from time to time,” the notification said.
The Indian government had issued various guidelines and measures for the first time on March 24, 2020, under the Disaster Management Act to curb the COVID-19 situation in the country, which have been modified several times thereafter.
India currently has 23,087 active COVID-19 cases and recorded 1,778 new cases and 62 deaths in the last 24 hours. The daily positivity rate has also declined to 0.28%.
Shimla-A meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet was held on March 20, 2022, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
The excise policy for the financial year 2022-23 was approved. Approval was also given for the renewal of retail excise vends in the state for the financial year 2022-23 at the renewal fees of 4% of the value of unit/vend.
The State Government said that wants to enhance the government revenue and curb the smuggling of country liquor from the neighbouring states by a reduction in its price.
The brands of Country Liquor will be cheaper as license fees have been reduced. This will help in providing good quality liquor at a cheaper rate to the consumers.
In the new excise policy, the 15% fixed quota of country liquor for manufacturers and bottlers to be supplied to the retail licensees has been abolished. According to the government, this step will give the retail licensees to lift their quota from the suppliers of their choice and further assure the supply of good quality country liquor at competitive prices. The MRP of country liquor will be cheaper by 16% of the existing price.
In this year’s policy, the Gaudhan Vikas Nidhi Fund has been enhanced by Re.1/- from the existing Rs.1.50 to Rs.2.50.
The fixed annual license fee of Bars has been rationalized by abolishing the area-specific slabs of license fee. Now throughout the State, there will be uniform license slabs based upon the room capacity in hotels.
Rates of the annual fixed license fee of Bars in the tribal areas has been reduced considerably.
Further, all the above stakeholders will have to install CCTV cameras at their establishments as it was made mandatory for them.
Wholesale vends and retail vends, the penalty provisions under the H.P. Excise Act, 2011 have been made more stringent.
An end to end online Excise Administration System would be established in Himachal Pradesh, the government said.
HP Government estimates a collection of Rs 2131 crore revenue during the year, which will be Rs. 264 crores higher than the financial year 2021-22 – growth of 14% in state excise revenues.
The Cabinet also gave its nod to amend Himachal Pradesh Disaster Relief Manual-2012 to include deaths due to biting of honey bees, hornet and wasps, accidental drowning and deaths due to accidents of vehicles (including land, water and air) under this Manual.
The Cabinet gave its approval for filling up 11 posts of ‘A’ Class Tehsildar in Revenue Department through direct recruitment on regular basis through Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission.
HP State Toll Policy 2022-23
The HP Cabinet also gave its nod to HP State Toll Policy for the year 2022-23 which envisages auction cum tender for all the toll barriers in the State. During the year 2021-22, toll revenue has registered a growth of 20 percent of the previous year’s revenue.
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