Facing acute shortage of doctors in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Government has decided to extend the retirement age of doctors in State-run hospitals from the existing 60 to 62 years. The move is likely to benefit over 11,000 Government doctors.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting in lucknow on Tuesday, which also approved a Mining policy which envisages setting up of special courts to deal with illegal mining cases.

Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh said that there were 18,382 posts of doctors approved but 7,327 posts were vacant.

“In 2014-15, the then Government made an attempt to post 3,600 doctors and asked the State Public Service Commission to start the appointment process. But nothing later happened,” he said.

“Around 1,000 doctors were set to retire in 2017-18 and this decision will help the State to tide over the crisis for the time being,” Singh said, adding that over 11,000 doctors will stand to benefit from the decision.

Meanwhile, the association of government doctors - Primary Health and Medical Services Association, hailed the decision but said it should have been optional.

 “Many doctors do not want to continue in government service anymore. They should not be forced to continue with this service,” General Secretary of PHMS Association Dr Sachin Vaish told ‘The Pioneer’ on Tuesday.

In another decision, the government approved the Mining policy under which new contracts will be awarded in a transparent manner.

“This policy has been guided by Central Mining Policy and policies of many states have been incorporated. Its focus is transparency and will be technology driven. The government has decided to set up special courts to deal with cases of illegal mining,” government spokesman and Power minister Shrikant Sharma said.

Under the new policy, inland lease for river bed mining of 5 hectares will be given for five years while for stone chips, the lease has been increased from 10 years to 20 years and for mining granite and silicon, the lease has been extended from existing 20 years to 30 years. “This has been done to invite private companies in this sector. This will not only help government to increase revenue but also generate employment,” Secretary (Mining) RP Singh said.

The government has also decided to charge 1 per cent cess on mining which will be used for technology upgradation. The royalty will now be collected directly to the bank for this a new App will be launched. Earlier royalty used to go to treasury from where it was transferred to bank. When asked about existing state of mining, Singh said that under-short term mining policy, 61 districts have been sensitised under which mining plan has been approved in 25 districts. The official however admitted that under the new policy prices of construction material were likely to go up. In another decision, the government decided to go ahead with the construction of Purvanchal Express connecting lucknow to Ballia but approved two link roads that would connect Varanasi and Faizabad with this Expressway. A government spokesman said that previous tenders have expired on May 11 and new tenders will be floated once the government acquired 80 per cent of the land. So far only 40.7 per cent of the land has been acquired. The 354 km long Greenfield Expressway will be constructed at a cost of Rs 17,187 crore. The state cabinet also fixed the education qualification for Watch and Ward Staff in State Assembly to Intermediate upgrading it from Matriculation. The government has decided to give preference to women Watch and Ward staff who were from NCC or Home Guard.