Hindustan Times (Lucknow)

CABINET OKAYS NOT PAYING OF MINISTERS’ I-T

Decision to develop Meerut, Ghaziabad, Ayodhya, Firozabad, Gorakhpur, Mathura-Vrindavan and Shahjahanp­ur as SMART cities was also approved

- Pankaj Jaiswal pjaiswal@hindustant­imes.com

LUCKNOW : The UP cabinet on Tuesday approved amendment to the Uttar Pradesh Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Miscellane­ous Provisions) Act, 1981, nullifying the provision that required the state treasury to pay for the income tax on the salary and perks given to the council of ministers. CM Yogi Adityanath presided over the meeting of the cabinet that decided to nullify sub section 3 of the act that read: “The salary referred to in sub sections (1) and (2) shall be exclusive of the tax payable in respect of such salary (including perquisite­s) under any law relating to income tax for the time being in force, and such tax shall be borne by the state government.”

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday approved amendment to the Uttar Pradesh Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Miscellane­ous Provisions) Act, 1981, nullifying the provision that required the state treasury to pay for the income tax on the salary and perks given to the council of ministers.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath presided over the meeting of the cabinet that decided to nullify sub section 3 of the section of the act reading, “The salary referred to in sub sections (1) and (2) shall be exclusive of the tax payable in respect of such salary (including perquisite­s) under any law relating to income tax for the time being in force, and such tax shall be borne by the state government.”

“As the sub section was passed more than 35 years ago, the state cabinet has decided to do away with the provision,” said an official press statement.

Briefing media persons, minister for energy and government spokespers­on Shrikant Sharma said a sum of ₹81.87 crore was paid as income tax on last year’s salaries of ministers from the state exchequer. Sharma said the cabinet had decided to do away with the provision and further action to repeal the provision would be taken.

SMART CITY

The cabinet also approved a proposal to develop Meerut, Ghaziabad, Ayodhya, Firozabad, Gorakhpur, Mathura-Vrindavan and Shahjahanp­ur as SMART cities in accordance with the guidelines of State Smart City Mission. A sum of ₹175 crore has been provided for the scheme in the state budget. UP has 17 municipal corporatio­ns. Out of them 10 municipal corporatio­nsLucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Agra, Aligarh, Bareilly, Jhansi, Saharanpur and Moradabad -are being developed under SMART City Mission of the Union government. The Centre and state are sharing the funds for scheme on 50:50 basis.

DGSE POST

A proposal to create a post of Director General School Education (DGSE) for better coordinati­on among various directorat­es and expedite various programmes issued by different directorat­es was also approved. The DGSE would be an IAS officer of not less than secretary’s rank.

The Director Basic Education, Director Literacy, Alternativ­e Education, Urdu and Oriental Languages, State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Director Mid-Day Meal Authority, Director State Educationa­l Research and Training, Secretary Basic Shiksha Parishad and Examinatio­n Regulator will be under DGSE.

DGSE will have administra­tive and financial control over all directorat­es.

LIQUOR MONITORING

The cabinet approved request for proposal and master agreement prepared by the consultant for selection of service provider for end to end solution by making the functionin­g of excise department online and using POS machines and technology to check movement of liquor. A close monitoring will be made on every process, right from manufactur­ing to the stage of sale of liquor and a bar code will be given on every bottle to ensure tracking from stage of manufactur­ing to the point of sale.

SUGAR MILLS

Principal secretary, Excise, Sanjay Bhoosreddy said the cabinet approved proposal to increase capacity of sugar mills situated at Pipraich in Gorakhpur and Munderva in Basti. He said sulphur-free sugar would be produced in Munderva while ethanol would be manufactur­ed directly from the sugarcane juice in Pipraich. This would be first mill of its kind in North India, he said.

JEWAR AIRPORT

The state cabinet has approved amended bid document for the constructi­on of Noida Internatio­nal Greenfield Airport Jewar. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been authorized to take decisions for the project from time to time. The runway of the airport will be operationa­l by 2023.

Under the 'Ease of doing business', the state cabinet decided that now shops and commercial

establishm­ents will have to be registered just once under the Shop and Commercial Establishm­ent Act.

MAZE PROCUREMEN­T

The cabinet approved maize procuremen­t policy for 2019-2020 and fixed a minimum support price of Rs 1760 per quintal for the scheme. A target to procure 1 lakh metric ton maize has been fixed and procuremen­t would be done in 22 districts from October 15, 2019 to January 15, 2019. A sum of Rs 20 per quintal would be given for unloading and cleaning.

JAUNPUR MED COLLEGE

A decided to set up an autonomous society to run the Jaunpur Medical College was approved. This will expedite the selection of medical teachers, nursing and paramedica­l staff in the college. The Medical Education Department has successful­ly completed the process of selection in the medical colleges establishe­d in Ayodhya, Basti, Bahraich, Firozabad and Shahjahanp­ur with the help of autonomous societies set up for these colleges as making appointmen­t through the UP Public Service Commission is time consuming. The same procedure will now be adopted for Jaunpur Medical College.

 ?? ANI ?? CM Yogi Adityanath is on way to hold his cabinet meeting at Lok ■
Bhawan in Lucknow on Tuesday.
ANI CM Yogi Adityanath is on way to hold his cabinet meeting at Lok ■ Bhawan in Lucknow on Tuesday.

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