As expected, the Uttarakhand  Cabinet that met  in  a school in  a nondescript Churiyala village of Bhagwanpur tehsil in Haridwar district on Thursday has taken 24 decisions meant to give sops to the people and to have a roadmap  to project the  State as a fast developing one despite constraints - financial and natural.

In an important  decision, it has decided to create a corpus of Rs 100 crore so that the farmers can be compensated   against their crop losses  aside from approving Rs 32 crore to pay the sugarcane farmers' arrears and Rs seven crore for Tarai seed corporation. For Bhagwanpur that hosted the Cabinet  meeting, there are sops too. Cabinet has approved Rs 28 crore to smoothen  the drainage system too.

In keeping with the Chief  Minister's pledge to acquire  all benami lands, the  Cabinet has decided to go for action soon.  In another decision, the Cabinet  resolved  that the  secretariat would function from 10 am to 5.30 pm and it  would be closed   on second and fourth Saturdays.

The Cabinet has asked the officials to bring 11 lakh pilgrims during this year on the char dham yatra pilgrimage. So far  this season, the  figure is   six lakhs and now they have fixed target to bring five lakh more pilgrims during the   remainder  of  the yatra season.

Also, the Cabinet has asked the disaster management department to prepare a detailed plan about shifting of 341 disaster -prone villages so that they could send it to  the Union government. Besides, the State Government would  send a proposal about 11 flood -affected villages of Haridwar district to the Centre, seeking funds  to provide  succour  to the villagers.

The Cabinet has also approved that Ex- Chief Ministers would continue to get benefit as per the UP Act-1997. The same  would  apply for  the former ministers and ministers of state. It has  decided to  withdraw all such facilities which were added later after  Uttarakhand came up as a State.

The State Government  would launch a scholarship in the name of the martyr Udham Singh Kamboj. It would create a separate fund for the  women employees and allocate Rs five crore on this count.

The Cabinet has appealed to the male  citizens  of the State  to give a sapling to their sisters on the occasion of Rakshabandhan and the saplings would be provided by the state, free  of  cost. Even the  ministers were asked to do plantation in their respective areas. The Cabinet has decided to donate 500 cows to the widows on the occasion of Janmashtami to  help  them make  a living out of them.

The Cabinet has agreed to send a proposal about One Rank One Pension to the Union government while  suggesting  the  same be accorded   to the para military personnel.

Cabinet has decided that the state government would bring a bill for the reservation of Rajya Aandolankaris-statehood activists- in the upcoming session of  the  State Assembly. It has also decided to free hold the land of Teachers Colony of Dehradun and they will have to pay the circle rate of year 2000 when the state  was carved out of  Uttar Pradesh.

The Cabinet has also approved that the MDDA will open canteen, where people would get meal @ Rs 20 per meal, as part of pilot project. In this proposed canteen, people would get locally produced food items.

The Cabinet has also decided to open sub treasury in Nainbaag and Kalsi and approved Rs five crore for herbal products and approved online single window system for MSME projects.

The Cabinet has decided to  shift 341 villages in the  hills  and 11 villages in the plains, now vulnerable because  of being situated in disaster prone areas. It  would appeal to the Centre  to facilitate  the  shift  with the required quantum of  funds.

For  the Aaganwari workers, who have completed 60 years, the  cabinet would dedicate a corpus which will be used for their welfare. Cabinet approved 10 percent reservation to the women in Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD).

The Cabinet has decided that RMSA employees will be recruited through outsourcing in education department shortly. The Cabinet has also decided to prepare separate film policy and constitute a film development council to boost film-making here. The film based on local languages will be made tax free by the state government. Cabinet has also decided to earmark separate fund for the welfare of villages, which are situated  in and around SIIDCUl areas.