Maharashtra [India]: The Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday approved an advance payment of Rs 5,000 each to nearly 1.5 crore farmers whose crops have suffered more than 33 per cent damage in 304 drought-hit talukas of the state before Diwali, officials said.
It also approved the construction of a national-level exhibition centre in Pune on the lines of Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, and the use of one per cent of the District Annual Plan funds for the welfare of persons with disabilities.
To revive air services to Chipi airport in Sindhudurg district, the cabinet gave nod to 100 per cent viability gap funding (VGF) for airlines operating on the Navi Mumbai-Chipi and Chipi-Navi Mumbai routes.
It also approved financial assistance of Rs 66.82 crore to Bajaj Auto Ltd for electric vehicle manufacturing under the Maharashtra Electric Vehicle Promotion Policy.
The cabinet approved an advance payment of Rs 5,000 to farmers whose crops have suffered more than 33 per cent damage. The amount would be transferred to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), according to a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Secretariat after the weekly cabinet meeting.
The government recently declared drought in 304 of 358 tehsils in the state following deficient rains this year.
In other decisions, the cabinet approved the use of one per cent of the District Annual Plan (General) funds for the welfare, rehabilitation and empowerment of persons with disabilities.
In Pune, the cabinet approved a change in the reservation for a playground at Lohegaon under the Pune Municipal Corporation’s sanctioned development plan to facilitate the construction of a national-level exhibition centre on the lines of Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, the statement said.
It also approved a revised staffing structure of 39,722 posts for the water resources department, including a restructuring of regional offices and the creation of additional posts to manage the expanded irrigation area.
The irrigated area in the state increased from 45 lakh hectares at the end of 2016 to 58 lakh hectares by the end of 2025, the statement said.
The revised structure includes the creation of posts for 1,450 irrigation branch offices to manage the expanded area. The cabinet also approved the creation of 15 posts at the executive engineer level across five irrigation corporations and the introduction of three new specialist cadres in land acquisition, agriculture and social change. It also cleared the creation of a new cadre of irrigation assistants through the consolidation of certain posts.
The cabinet also approved the continuation of the Matoshri Gram Samruddhi Shet-Panand Raste Yojana in coordination with various schemes, including the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar & Ajeevika Mission (VB-G RAM G).
Works under the scheme can also be funded through District Planning Committees. It has also been recognised as a district-level scheme, and a state-level committee has been empowered to resolve implementation issues at the field level, the statement said.
The cabinet also approved financial assistance for the Malharrao Holkar Nomadic and De-notified Tribes Cooperative Spinning Mill at Shirur Tajband in Ahmedpur taluka of Latur district.
It also cleared amendments to the Maharashtra Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Policy to streamline project scrutiny, in-principle approval, requests for proposals, transaction structuring, tendering and bidding.
In another administrative decision, the cabinet approved the merger of the Junior Administrative Officer (S-13) and Assistant Administrative Officer (S-14) cadres in Zilla Parishads. The Assistant Administrative Officer (S-14) will be the single cadre following the merger.
The cabinet also approved the transfer of 289 hectares of land at Raver in Dhule district to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for its expansion.
It also cleared amendments to the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University Act, 2014, empowering the Chancellor to remove the Pro-Vice-Chancellor.
[DD News]