With schedule of general elections expected to be announced on Wednesday, the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday granted approval to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Central Government for establishing two medical colleges at Nahan and Chamba.
Both these colleges will have an annual intake of 100 MBBS students per college per year, which would be attached with district hospitals the concerned district. The total cost for establishment of these two colleges would be Rs 378 crore.
The Cabinet meeting was held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Keeping the general polls in mind, the Cabinet also gave its approval to sanction pension to about 12,000 pending applicants under social security pension scheme, enhancing the social security pension from Rs 500 to Rs 550 per month, providing Rs 1000 pension per month to the persons above 80 years of age without any income limit condition and to increase the pension being given to physically challenged persons from Rs 500 to Rs 750 per month. All these pensions would be applicable from April 1, 2014.
The Cabinet gave its nod to provide scholarships to the physically challenged students, as per budget announcement of the Chief Minister. The scholarship would be awarded to regular disabled students of schools, colleges and universities without considering their family income. The Cabinet cleared another populist measure and decided to engage 500 Jal Rakshaks (Water Guards) for 543 rural water supply schemes for distribution of water from storage tank or sector storage tank or headwork to pumping stations and pumping stations to main storage tank during the financial year 2014-15.
The Cabinet approved to recruit 150 clerks in Himachal Pradesh State secretariat. It gave its assent to convert the services of staff nurses appointed on contract basis through Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS) after completion of 3 years of the services to State Government contract, in the Department of Ayurveda, on the analogy of health department.