The Himachal Pradesh cabinet has decided to increase the compensation for loss of household items to disaster‑affected families from Rs 70,000 to Rs 100,000.
It also approved a special assistance package of Rs 7 lakh for homes completely destroyed in fire incidents.
To provide helicopter services during disasters, the cabinet sanctioned Rs 4.32 crore to the Air Force.
Additionally, the cabinet resolved to reorganise and redraw the boundaries of 12 panchayats, which will lead to the creation of new panchayats, and this likely may postpone panchayat elections.
Ministers Jagat Singh Negi and Anirudh Singh announced these decisions, and a total of 64 agenda items were discussed in the meeting.
The meeting was held here on Monday under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
The Anti-Narcotics Task Force, in collaboration with the Special Task Force, is to create a unified Special Task Force under the Home Department to comprehensively combat narcotics-related challenges. It approved the panchayat-wise Anti Chitta campaign across the state.
It was also decided to provide 150 days of employment under MNREGA, and approval was given for the construction of retaining walls up to Rs. 2 lakh for individual works.
The Cabinet decided to extend social security pensions to all persons with 40 percent or above disability by removing the existing eligibility condition that barred beneficiaries whose guardians were employees or pensioners of government or semi-government boards and corporations.
The Cabinet decided to provide a 40 percent subsidy for the conversion of 1000 petrol and diesel taxis into electric taxis under Rajiv Gandhi Swarojgar Start-Up Yojna-2023.
It also approved the creation and filling of five posts of various categories for the Digital Forensic Facility at the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, North Range, Dharamsala.