Chhattisgarh govt to reorganize Bastar, Surguja, other areas to improve public facilities

The cabinet has decided to reorganize Bastar, Surguja, Mid-Area Tribal Development, Scheduled Caste Development Authority and Chhattisgarh State Rural and Other Backward Classes Development Authorities, said the statement issued by government officials.

As a move to improve public facilities, the Chhattisgarh government has decided to reorganize Bastar, Surguja, Mid-Area Tribal Development, Scheduled Caste Development Authority and Chhattisgarh State Rural and Other Backward Classes Development Authorities. A decision in this connection was taken in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Wednesday at Mantralaya in Nava Raipur.

The cabinet has decided to reorganize Bastar, Surguja, Mid-Area Tribal Development, Scheduled Caste Development Authority and Chhattisgarh State Rural and Other Backward Classes Development Authorities, said the statement issued by government officials. According to officials, the objective behind this decision is to reform the functioning of these five authorities, making it more effective and thereby improving the public facilities in the areas. The command of these five authorities will now be directly in the hands of Chief Minister. One local MLA will be nominated as vice president while others as member of these authorities. The Principal Secretary or Secretary to the Chief Minister will be the Member Secretary of these five authorities.

Notably, Bastar, Surguja and Scheduled Caste Development Authority were constituted in 204-05 by the then government. Thereafter, Chhattisgarh State Rural and Other Backward Classes Area Development Authority was constituted in the year 2012. The Chief Minister was the chairman of these authorities. Under these authorities, significant development works were done in Scheduled Tribe areas, Scheduled Caste dominated villages, Majra-Tola, Para-Mohallas, wards and rural areas. In 2019, the then government made radical changes in the functions of these authorities, which not only diluted their importance, but also made them ineffective with lack of transparency and monitoring, the statement said, adding that keeping in view the aforementioned situation, the cabinet has approved the proposal for reorganization and fund-related rules of the five authorities.

The statement further elaborated that under the non-official resolution passed on February 23 this year (during the budget session) all the plain areas of the state, including those villages and development blocks where Scheduled Tribes have more than 25 percent majority have been included under the jurisdiction of the Mid-Area Tribal Development Authority. The Authority will work towards the realization of the Chief Minister's vision, with the consensus and inputs of the local public representatives. Under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, the authority will focus on social, economic and all-round development. With the reorganization, the functioning of the authority will be made more transparent and effective, claimed officials.

Presently, the provision of Rs 50 crore each has been made for Bastar, Surguja, Mid-Area, Scheduled Caste Development Authority and Rs 80 crore for Rural and Other Backward Classes Development Authority, added the officials. Moreover, the cabinet has approved the Guest Lecturer Policy-2024 for the Higher Education Department, informed officials.

According to the officials, for distribution of chickpeas under PDS to the beneficiary families of 'Antyodaya' and priority' category living in the Scheduled Areas and MADA, the cabinet has decided to procure chickpeas at the total rate obtained by adding the issue price fixed by the Government of India and the milling and transportation rate of raw chickpeas received by the Civil Supplies Corporation. The cabinet has given approval for the sanctioned amount of Rs 19 crore 37 lakh 93 thousand to 14369 persons and institutions from the CM Discretionary Grant Item.

The Cabinet has given approval for the wholesale purchase and storage of foreign liquor directly from the manufacturing units, ending the system of FL 10 AB license currently in vogue for the wholesale selling. It is worth mentioning here that the procurement of foreign liquor was earlier done through licensees. Besides ending this system, the government has now entrusted Chhattisgarh Beverage Corporation with the responsibility to procure foreign liquor. (ANI)

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