HP Cabinet decisions
Entry age for ayurvedic doctors up
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Nov 9 — The Himachal Cabinet today approved the draft agreement to be signed by the state with the National Hydel Power Corporation (NHPC) for the execution of the 2051 mw Parvati hydro-electric project in Kulu district.

Besides 12 per cent free power as royalty, the state will also be entitled to 15 per cent of the share of Government of India at generation cost. Thus, the state would get over 25 per cent of the total power generated from the mega project.

Giving details of the agreement to newsmen, Mr Kishori Lal, Industry Minister, and Mr J.P. Nadda, Health Minister, said the most remarkable feature of the proposed agreement was that the state would not make any investment on the project and all expenditure incurred by the state power board on the project till it was handed over to the NHPC would be reimbursed by the corporation. The land required for the project would be made available to the corporation at the market rate.

The state's full power requirement would be met during winter from the project on a priority so that it would not have to purchase expensive power from neighbouring states.

Under the proposed agreement, 30 per cent of the executive staff and 80 per cent of the non-executive staff would be taken from the state power board. Besides, 30 per cent of the executive staff required at the operation and maintenance stages would be taken on absorption basis.

The Cabinet thanked the Union Power Ministry for accepting the state's proposal for imposition of power generation tax and appreciated the effort of the Chief Minister, Mr P K Dhumal, in this regard.

The Cabinet also approved a loan of Rs 14 crore to the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) for replacing its old buses. In all, 200 vehicles, which had completed the stipulated mileage, would be replaced.

It also decided to introduce postgraduation in ‘kaya chikitsa’ at Ayurvedic College, Paprola, from the next academic session. There would be six seats in all, out of which three would be for students of the state. The number of seats for the degree course were also increased from 30 to 50.

The maximum age for entry into government service for ayurvedic doctors was increased from 45 to 48.

The Cabinet also cleared the proposal to create a post of chief engineer (mechanical) in the Irrigation and Public Health Department to expedite and strengthen work on the Shimla water supply scheme and sewerage system.
In another decision, rain water harvesting was made compulsory in all new buildings in urban areas and new government buildings in rural areas.