Himachal govt to expand list of BPL beneficiaries
Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet, on Thursday, approved an expansion of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list widening the scope of benefits of welfare schemes to be extended to families with no adult members aged 18-59 years.
The new list includes the families headed by women, or where the head has a disability of 50 percent or more, or have worked at least 100 days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the previous financial year.
Families, where the earning members suffer from chronic conditions like cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, muscular dystrophy, thalassemia, or any other illness that causes permanent disability, will also be covered under the amended criterion. The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu.
Briefing media persons, Revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi said that there will be a survey again in April for the selection of BPL characters. The quota of Rs 2.82 lakh set by the Centre regarding BPL will remain the same, but its criteria will be changed. He said that a decision has been taken to increase the income for BPL to Rs 1.50 lakh.
The state cabinet approved the establishment of a special task force (STF) to combat drug abuse and dismantle drug trafficking and organised crime networks in the state through a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach. Besides, the cabinet has decided to promulgate an ordinance amending Schedule 1A of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899. This amendment will enable the levy of a uniform stamp duty rate of 12 per cent on transfer and lease transactions secured under Section 118(2) (H) of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, with prior sanction from the state government.
The cabinet approved an earlier decision of the government, taken at the level of Chief Minister, to impose the ban on felling of trees except Safeda, Poplar and Bamboo while felling of khair for sale in accordance with the ten-year programme. It also approved the guidelines for ‘Sarkar Gaon Ke Dwar’ Programme to redress the grievances of common men residing in remote and hard areas of the state. The cabinet reiterated its request to Centre to adopt the 90:10 funding formula for the power component of the Kishau Multipurpose Project, similar to the formula adopted for the water component. Alternatively, it proposed providing a 50-year interest-free loan for the entire amount payable by the State Government for the power component under the Inter-State Agreement.
In addition, the Cabinet has decided to delegate the mandate for the allotment and monitoring of hydro and solar power projects above 5 MW, as well as Green Hydrogen, Biomass, and Pumped Storage Projects, to the Department of Energy.
