The Himachal Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday gave approval for a one-time relaxation of one year in upper age limit to the candidates appearing for the recruitment of 1,226 posts of constable in the police department.

Now, the general candidates between the age of 18 and 26 years; SC, ST, OBC, Gorkhas and distinguished sportspersons between 18 and 28 years; and home guards between the age of 20 and 29 years will be eligible for recruitment as constables.

The cabinet meeting held here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also decided to create and fill up more than 6,630 posts in various government departments, including engaging 6,297 early childhood care and education tutors in the education department to provide better education to the tiny tots.

The cabinet gave its nod to open superintendent of police (SP) office and the office of the superintending engineer (SE), public works department (PWD) at Dehra in Kangra district. Due to the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct for the bypolls to three assembly seats, these two offices will be notified later.

The cabinet also accorded sanction to open the electrical division at Haroli in Una district.

It also formed a cabinet sub-committee under the chairmanship of Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan with Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh, Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh and Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani as members to suggest guidelines for streamlining the operations of home stays and boost tourism in the state.

It gave the nod to form a cabinet sub-committee to recommend resource mobilisation under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri with Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar, Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan and Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani as its members.

The cabinet also reviewed the situation of forest fires, drought, water scarcity and monsoon advancement in the state.