Himachal Cabinet decisions: State settles for power from Punjab in lieu of its BBMB share arrears

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur presided over the Cabinet meeting in which the decision was taken. Sources said the Cabinet was of the view that instead of waiting endlessly for the recovery of arrears, the state should accept Punjab’s offer, which was quite reasonable and in the best interests of the state.

“After this decision, we will approach the Supreme Court to apprise it of our acceptance of the offer to enable the court to pass a final order,” said Principal Secretary (Power) R D Dhiman.

The Supreme Court, during last hearing, had asked the beneficiary states, including Himachal Pradesh, to reach a mutually acceptable solution and thereafter file their replies accordingly. The Cabinet decision may end the legal battle soon.

In another significant decision, the Cabinet decided to reserve the decision of the previous Congress government to take over Lord Raghunath Temple at Kullu in July 2016. The decision was challenged in the High Court by Maheshwar Singh, chief Kardar of the lord Raghunath. Last year, the High Court had dismissed his petition but later the Supreme Court had stayed the HC order. As a fallout of Thursday’s Cabinet decision, the temple will remain a property of Maheshwar Singh.

The Cabinet also gave its approval to Governor Acharya Devvrat’s address, which he will deliver at the first session of the 13th Vidhan Sabha being held at Dharamshala from January 9, 2018.

In a major benefit to ex-servicemen joining the state government, the Cabinet reversed the decision taken on August 5, 2017, to deny benefits of previous services to such armed forces personnel and restored the previous situation for fixation of pay in the civil employment. Nearly 1.50 lakh such personnel will benefit from the decision.

The Cabinet also gave its nod to fell a few trees and saplings in private land transferred/acquired by the National Highways Authority of India for construction of four-laning of NH-22 from Kandaghat to Kaithlighat, in a relaxation of the ban imposed by the previous state government on felling of trees.

It also decided to continue the services of retired patwaris/kanungos engaged on contract basis, till the new batch of patwaris undergoing training is recruited, so as to avoid inconvenience to the general public.

The cabinet approved the proposal to execute balance work of widening and strengthening of Theog-Kotkhai-Kharapathar road .This will have an investment of Rs. 29.310 crore, besides widening works of Kharapathar-Rohru road.

Getting a sense of state’s fiscal health, the Cabinet today went through a detailed presentation on financial resources and concluded that the liabilities left over due to the “reckless” opening of government institutions during the previous government would be a major challenge.

The Cabinet also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health Minister J P Nadda for sanctioning AIIMS in Bilaspur.

Other decisions:

• The cabinet reserves decision of the previous Congress government to take over Lord Raghunath Temple at Kullu in July 2016.
• It gives nod to fell a few trees and saplings on private land transferred/acquired by the National Highways Authority of India for four-laning of NH-22 from Kandaghat to Kaithlighat.
• The cabinet decides to continue the services of retired patwaris/kanungos engaged on contract basis.