The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday took a slew of decisions for the state including the decision to do away with the 10-mark personal interview criteria in the recruitment of Van Mitra in the forest department.

The cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu decided to go ahead with the recruitment of 2061 Van Mitra in the forest department by eliminating the 10-mark criteria for personal interview.

The goal of the Van Mitra scheme is to strengthen local communities' involvement in the protection, conservation, and development of forest areas. Van Mitras (friends of forest) receive incentives for maintaining and protecting plantations.

Men and women in the age group of 18 to 25 with matriculation and 10 plus as minimum qualification who are residents of Gram Panchayat/urban Local Body within the jurisdiction of the forest beat and have good physical and mental health are eligible to apply for the post, a government statement said.

It also decided to set up a cabinet sub-committee to review the operations of parking facilities run under the public-private partnership (PPP) model in Shimla City. The sub-committee would be headed by Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi with Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh, Urban Development Minister Vikramaditya Singh, and Town and Country Planning Minister Rajesh Dharmani as members.  The committee will review the operations of Lift Parking, Chhota Shimla Parking, Sanjauli Parking, New Bus Stand Parking and Tutikandi Parking.

Rge Cabinet also decided to amend the Eco-tourism Policy 2017 to align with the recent amendments in the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 2023, aimed at promoting and developing eco-tourism activities in the state. The Amended Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 2023 exempts certain specified forest lands for activities like zoos and safaris, besides eco-tourism facilities, silvicultural operations and any other purpose specified by the central government.

With a view to enhancing the effectiveness of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) during disasters and emergencies, the Cabinet decided to transfer the administrative control of SDRF to the Additional Director General (Home Guards and Civil Defence) and also approved the deputation of Home Guards to the SDRF for a maximum period of two years to ensure its smooth operation.

To promote the use of electric vehicles and reduce reliance on fossil fuel vehicles, the Cabinet approved involving private players to expand the EV charging station network along the state's six green corridors where 77 EV charging stations are already operational.  It also approved the establishment of automated testing stations for vehicle fitness assessments, utilising advanced automated equipment. The aim is to set up five such stations to better serve the residents of the state.

The Cabinet decided to create and fill up 150 posts of nursing personnel posts and create and fill six posts of Associate Professor posts, 10 posts of Assistant Professors in different departments Dr Radhakrishnan Government Medical College and Hospital Medical College Hamirpur.