Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh chaired probably the last Cabinet meeting of his second innings on Tuesday which approved some major decisions to boost health, education as well as industrial sectors in the State.
Among other decisions, the Cabinet approved proposal of setting up an education commission in the State, giving Rs 2 lakh compensation to victims of electrocution besides the much sought after relief to small/ cottage industries by reducing surcharge on power tariff.
With a view to tackle the challenges of Sickle Cell Anaemia, providing relief to patients and to encourage innovation in this field, an autonomous Sickle Cell Institute will be opened in Chhattisgarh which will be housed in Biochemistry Department of Raipur based Jawaharlal Nehru Allopathic Medical College. The cabinet approved the constitution of Article of Association of the Society for its operation. For the smooth operation of the Institute a committee will be constituted in which 8 government officials including Additional Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary of Finance Department, or Secretary and Health department Secretary will be permanent members whereas three famous citizens working in the field of sickle cell and two public representatives will be nominated for every two years. A 100-bed hospital equipped with Intensive care unit, operation theatre and other necessary facility will also be opened by the Institute which will be run with the fund provided by the State Government. Dr Singh has already made provision of this in the budget of 2013-14. The Institute which also have the training facility for doctors, will also provide consultation services to people suffering from sickle cell anaemia.
As per CM's earlier announcement, Tuesday's cabinet meeting also approved the proposal of setting up the Education Commission in the state. The Commission will time to time give advice to the State government on issues related to pay scale irregularity and service rules of teachers working in schools run by school education department, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes development Departments, Panchayat and Rural Development Department as well as Urban Administration Department in the state. Retired senior educationist Prof. Chandra Bhushan Sharma will be chairman of the Commission retired deputy director of education department R C Pandav has been appointed member. The cabinet also decided to appoint one more member in the Commission. After considering the proposal of Energy department, the cabinet okayed giving Rs 2 lakh compensation to the dependents of those who die of electrocution. At present, compensation in such cases is Rs 50,000. The cabinet has decided to give compensation also in cases of death of cattle due to electrocution. In such cases, the compensation will be four times the amount notified in the Revenue book. This will help make transparency in deciding the compensation in case of cattle deaths.