The Uttarakhand government has decided to consider twins as one child if they happen to be the second issue of their parents. The decision has been taken to help the parents of such children contest local body elections in the future.

A decision to this effect has been taken by the Pushkar Singh Dhami Government during a cabinet decision cabinet on Wednesday following a proposal tabled by the state Panchayat Department. The proposal was made by the department in response to a demand from those who were disqualified from contesting local body elections for having more than two children.

The state government’s move is expected to help many parents who were barred from contesting panchayat and municipal elections for having more than two children.

According to the state election norms, parents with more than two offspring cannot contest in the local body elections even if the number of wards increases due to twins’ birth. Henceforth, the two-child norm will not apply to parents with three children with the second issue being twins, informed Uttarakhand Chief Secretary SS Sandhu.

During the cabinet meeting, the government also decided to give 4 per cent reservation to the sportspersons in the state. Sandhu informed that the Dhami Government will table a bill to this effect in the state assembly.

In another important step, the government decided to promote homestays to attract tourists to border villages of the state. Sandhu said the promotion of homestay will be taken up under the ‘vibrant village’ scheme of the Union government starting with Jadung village bordering China.

Located 3,800 meters on the higher Himalayas in the district Jadung, the village is one of the least populated border villages in the state owing to mass migration. According to the state government, the promotion of homestay aimed to realise reverse migration. It will also curb further migration from the villages bordering China and Nepal.

In another major decision during the cabinet meeting, it was announced that state government employees will be paid full salary for two years while on childcare leave.

The cabinet decisions included leasing out its lakes, ponds, and water reservoirs for ten years for pisciculture and fisheries against the existing sublet norm for five years.