Going ahead on its policy to merge departments with similar nature of work, the Uttarakhand cabinet on Wednesday approved the merger of medical health and family welfare department with medical education department, and information technology and science and technology departments. Initially the process of merger would start at the secretariat level. Informing about the decision of state cabinet, minister and government spokesman Madan Kaushik said that after these departments would be known as medical health and medical education, and information and science and technology departments respectively. Last year the state government had merged sports and youth welfare departments. Similarly skill development and training and employment departments were also merged by the government.
Kaushik said that a total of 14 issues were brought before the cabinet of which 12 were approved. He said the cabinet has set up a committee for revising the reservation roaster for direct recruitment in government services, corporation, public undertaking and educational institutes. The committee would be headed by cabinet minister Yashpal Arya with cabinet ministers Subodh Uniyal and Arvind Pandey as committee members. The cabinet amended the provision of reservation to the dependents of physically disabled, ex- servicemen and freedom fighters.
In an important decision, the cabinet nullified its earlier decision of merging the service of Mrityunjay Mishrat in the Uttarakhand Ayurveda University by amending the Uttarakhand Ayurveda University Act. The cabinet also revoked its earlier decision of imposing a penalty of Rs 25 per seat for ordinary and Rs 40 per seat for the air conditioned transport vehicles for overloading. Now the offender would have to pay a penalty that is five times of the tax of the vehicle. Kaushik informed that the cabinet decided to pay the medical reimbursement to the retired and serving judges of the High Court as per the recent directions given by the Supreme Court (SC).