The State Government is going to increase pension of senior citizens, handicapped and widows. There will also be an increase in the loans given by the Multipurpose Finance Development Corporation.
Also to curb road accidents in hilly areas of the State, concerned district Magistrates of districts will be made accountable for such cases. Volvo buses will be started on the routes to Mussoorie, Haldwani, Haridwar and Rudrapur. An additional 400 new buses for Dehradun, Hardwar, Rudrapur and Haldwani will be purchased under JNNURM.
This was disclosed by the Chief Minister, Vijay Bahuguna after review of transport and social welfare department in Dehradun on Saturday. Reviewing the work of the Social Welfare Department, the CM said that the process of implementing programs for the weak should be speeded up. There should be an increase in pensions for the old age, disabled and widows and should be made equal.
A proposal should be forwarded for this at the next cabinet meeting. The process of implementation of programs for employment of scheduled and other backward castes should be done at a quicker pace. loans given to the self-employed by the multipurpose finance development corporation must be increased to Rs 15 lakh from Rs 7 lakh and there should be a subsidy in the interest amount.
The money given to encourage intercaste marriages should be increased to Rs 50,000 from the existing Rs 10,000. He added that work should begin at block, district and tehsil level to implement the programs initiated by the social welfare board. Prior to this, CM Bahuguna while reviewing the progress of the Transport Department said that effective measures should be taken to curb road accidents.
All DMs must be made answerable for the same. Service of Volvo busses must be introduced for Mussoorie, Haldwani, Haridwar and Rudrapur. There should be a curb on accidents caused due to overloading, with close support of the RTO. A meeting should be held with insurance companies in order to make the private bus owners responsible for the compensation in case of casualties and deaths due to accidents resulting from flouting of the regulations.
A better transport system should be adopted to attract tourists to the State. The transport department also needed to improve its workshops and should take help from the other motor companies working in the state. An ISBT should be soon set up in Haldwani and for this sanction taken from the Forest Department. Transport department had extended help during the disaster, thus it would receive Rs 5 crore from the disaster management department.
He also gave directions to speed up the process of construction of the Sitarganj bus station and make the entry fee completely online. During the meeting, Principal Secretary, Social Welfare, S Raju provided information about the work being done by the social welfare board. He said that, at present, pension amounting to Rs 400 for the senior citizens, Rs 600 to the disabled and Rs 500 to the widows was being given.
Secretary, Transport Umakant Panwar said that the tax system was being simplified in the State. Single window system will be implemented in the State. There will be provision of paying tax from home. 150 new buses have been purchased and the department was in the final stage of buying 400 new buses.
Present at the meeting were Principal Secretary to the CM, SS Sandhu, Additional Secretary to the CM, Dilip Jawalkar, MD, Uttarakhand Transport Corporation Chandra Shekhar Bhatt, Director, Social Welfare, Vinod Suman and officers of the social welfare and transport departments.