UP Cabinet Meeting: Wheat MSP, Agra metro land transfer okayed

Speaking to media, Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said wheat procurement in the state will take place from March 17 to June 15 at the Rs 2,425 per quintal MSP, as announced by the Central government. A total of 6,500 procurement centres will be set up across the state by eight agencies, including the state Food and Civil Supplies Department, he said.

The Cabinet approved the free transfer of land from the Horticulture and Food Processing Department to the Housing and Urban Planning Department for the first corridor of the Agra Metro Rail Project under the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited. Khanna said 8,684.68 square meters of land, previously under the Horticulture and Food Processing Department, will be leased for 90 years to the Housing and Urban Planning Department at a token rate of Rs 1, with provisions for renewal every 30 years.

The state Cabinet has also approved the transfer of 20,753 square meters of land from the Home Department for the second corridor of the project. This land will also be leased for 90 years under similar conditions.

The Cabinet also gave the nod to the free transfer of 14.05 acres of land from the Ballia district jail to Medical Education Department for establishing a medical college. Of this, 12.39 acres will be used for the college, while two acres will be developed into a memorial for freedom fighter Chittu Pandey, after whom the college may be named, he said.

In another decision, 4,570 square metres of land from the Government Agricultural School in Bulandshahr’s Balipura village will be transferred free of cost to the Medical Education Department for establishing a nursing college. The Cabinet also approved the revised administrative and financial sanction for a 300-bed gynaecology block, including a 100-bed paediatric block, under the Uttar Pradesh Institute of Medical Sciences in Saifai, Etawah.

A major financial decision was taken regarding the withdrawal of physical stamp papers ranging from Rs 10,000 to 25,000 from circulation. The step was taken to increase transparency and prevent irregularities, officials said. Stamps worth over Rs 5,630 crore will be auctioned as old stamps would be valid only until March 31.

A proposal to grant ‘permanent employee’ status to seven staff members who have been working for over 25 years at the Uttar Pradesh Council of Science and Technology under the central government-funded “Assistance for S&T Secretariat to CSTUP” project.

They will now receive salaries as per the 7th Pay Commission.

State Smart City Scheme extended for 2 more years

The Cabinet also approved the proposal to extend the State Smart City Scheme for two more years, which covers all 17 municipal corporations in the state and was initially launched for five years.

It will be expanded under the State Smart City Mission. While the Centre had selected 10 smart cities in UP in 2019-20, the Uttar Pradesh government later included seven cities i.e. Ghaziabad, Meerut, Firozabad, Ayodhya, Mathura-Vrindavan, Shahjahanpur, and Gorakhpur.

—with PTI inputs