Uttarakhand cabinet okays free bus travel for soldiers
DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand cabinet on Monday approved a proposal to provide free travel facility in the buses of Uttarakhand State Transport Corporation to soldiers who have received gallantry awards like Ashok Chakra, Mahavir Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Vir Chakra, Shaurya Chakra and their spouses.
The cabinet also increased the monthly reimbursement given to students under the Right to Education Act from ₹1,383 to ₹1,893.
During the meeting, the cabinet also approved a new policy for life sentence serving convicts who have completed 14 years of imprisonment, under which they will be considered for pre-release on the basis of age, good conduct, nature of crime and other factors. Other important cabinet decisions included the construction of a green building under the Dehradun Smart City Project on the land of transport corporation, the land on which bus stations are located will be registered in the name of the transport corporation.
The cabinet also okayed giving 3% instead of 10% performance security in contracts for the works being done under Jal Jeevan Mission.
In another decision, the state cabinet also approved a proposal for the supplementary budget of over ₹4,800 crore.
The next assembly session, third this year, is scheduled to begin on November 29 in Dehradun. However, the authorities are yet to confirm its duration.
On November 16, the Uttarakhand cabinet had passed an approval to make the state’s anti-conversion law stricter by making forced conversion a cognisable and non-bailable offence with provision for a 10-year imprisonment.
The cabinet gave its green light to the amendments in the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018, a senior official said, adding that a bill to amend the anti-conversion law will be soon brought in the legislative assembly.
The Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018, stipulates a prison term of up to five years for anyone convicted of “forced or fraudulent” conversion. The amendments approved by the state cabinet provide a provision of 10-year jail term for those convicted of conversion of a woman, minor or members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes communities through force or allurement, besides mass conversions of two or more people.
The amendments also propose to impose a fine of ₹25,000 to ₹50,000 on the convict. The cabinet had also given its in principle approval to the shifting of the high court from Nainital to Haldwani.