Himachal Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday decided to cancel the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Punjab Government for the construction of ropeway between prominent shrines of Anandpur Sahib and Naina Devi.
The Cabinet which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh decided to call Expression of Interest (EoI) for setting up of this project within the State through Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The multi-crore ropeway was to link Punjab’s Anandpur Sahib town with Hindu shrine Naina Devi in Himachal Pradesh. The MOU to establish aerial ropeway between both the religious places was signed by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the then Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on July 26, 2012.
As per the proposal, an aerial ropeway of 3,751 meters, out of which 274.582 meters falls in Punjab State and 3,476.435 meter area in HP was to be constructed. The project proposed to be completed in three years was estimated to cost Rs 85 crore.
Meanwhile, Himachal Cabinet on Tuesday also gave its approval to dispose-of cases seeking employment on compassionate grounds. The employment on compassionate grounds will be restricted to 5 per cent of the total vacancies in a year. The income limit for compassionate employment in relation to dependents has been revised to Rs 1.25 lakh from existing Rs 75,000. The compassionate employment on medical grounds has been restricted to 45 years of age. The Cabinet also accorded approval for making amendments in the Skill Development Allowance scheme (SDA). As per the amendments in SDA scheme, the eligibility criteria will be 18 to 35 years of age, as on the date of application instead of earlier provision of 25 to 35 years of age.
The Cabinet gave its approval to introduce Himachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2013 and Himachal Pradesh Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2013 in the ensuing Vidhan Sabha session.