Giving much-needed relief to the water sports industry which has been in trouble following the ban imposed on it by Uttarakhand High Court, the State Cabinet on Wednesday has amended the River Rafting and Kayaking Regulations.
In June this year, the Uttarakhand HC imposed a ban on river rafting, other water sports and paragliding in Uttarakhand and directed the State Government to formulate a transparent policy for their regulations. The State Cabinet on the day also cleared the ‘Foot launch Aero Sports Regulations-2018’ for adventure sports like Paragliding and Parasailing.
Informing about the cabinet decision on adventure sports, the Finance Minister Prakash Pant said that elaborate rules and regulations have been set in place now.
He said that now people between 14 years of age to 65 years can take part in rafting. At present, the highest age limit for rafting is 60 years. Pant said that seating capacity of rafts has also been fixed. A 16 ft long raft can have maximum eight passengers on board while on a 14 ft raft not more than six persons should be allowed. Both these rafts should have two skilled operators. As per the regulations, smoking would completely remain banned during the rafting and no one in an inebriated state should be allowed to take part in water sports.
The Minister said that in the policy for aero- sports, it has been decided that only permanent residents of the State would be allowed to operate a company. He added that adequate safety measures have been set into place for adventure sports activity in the State and environmental aspect has also been taken care of.
In another important decision, the State Cabinet formulated regulations for Religious Freedom Act passed by the Assembly. Pant said that forceful conversions and those done by avarice would invite legal action. He said that the State Government would have the right to cancel registration of any society or organisation involved in religious conversions. The Cabinet also approved VII pay commission for the employees of Uttarakhand state Council for Science and Technology (UCOST).
In another decision, the cabinet constituted Constable and Head Constable Service regulations according to which 50 percent of posts of head constables would remain reserved for constables who have completed five years of service while rest 50 percent of the posts would get filled by direct recruitment.
Pant said that the Cabinet also cleared the draft of the Mounted Police service rules in which selection process for constables, head constables and sub-inspectors has been set in place.
The Cabinet also approved regulations for police motor transport branch on the day.
Cabinet pays homage to M Karunanidhi
The members of the State Cabinet observed a two- minute silence at the start of the Cabinet meeting on the day to pay homage to former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi who passed away on Tuesday.
The Cabinet also paid tributes to martyrs Hammir Singh Pokhariyal and Mandip Singh Rawat who lost their lives on Tuesday in Gurej Sector of Jammu and Kashmir.