Himachal cabinet gives nod to pilot study on cannabis cultivation
₹7 lakh relief announced for houses damaged in Kullu fire incident; establishment of a ropeway between Kullu bus stand and Peej paragliding point has also been approved
The state cabinet, in its meeting on Friday, approved a pilot study on cannabis cultivation to evaluate and recommend the future roadmap for the product’s industrial and medicinal use. The study will be jointly undertaken by Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur, Kangra, and Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture, Nauni, Solan. The agriculture department has been designated as the nodal department for this initiative.
The cabinet meeting, chaired by chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in Dharamshala, also decided to extend the special relief package, introduced for disaster-affected families in 2023, to those affected by the fire incident in Tandi Village in Kullu district. Under this package, the affected families of Tandi village will receive ₹7 lakh for completely damaged houses, ₹1 lakh for partially damaged houses and ₹50,000 for the loss of cowsheds. Additionally, a monthly house rental assistance of ₹5,000 will be provided to the affected families until June 30, 2025.
Around 1,00 people from more than 15 families were rendered homeless after the fire broke out in Tandi village of Kullu district on January 1.
The cabinet approved an amendment to the previous order of the forest department, allowing extraction of berberris roots (Kashmal) with a cut-off date of February 15. Additionally, forest produce extracted from open spaces prior to January 4, 2025, will be permitted for transportation until February 15 in accordance with the provisions of the HP Forest Produce Transit (Land Routes) Rules, 2013.
It approved the establishment of a ropeway between Kullu bus stand and Peej paragliding point to provide tourists with a smooth and safe transportation facility, thereby boosting tourism in the region.
It also approved to rename Government College, Seema, Shimla, as Raja Virbhadra Singh Government College, Seema, GGSSS, Sports Hostel (Girls) Jubbal as Ram Lal Thakur GGSSS, Sports Hostel (Girls), Jubbal, Shimla, and Government College Khad in Una as Mohan Lal Dutt Government College.
It approved bringing the posts of drivers, all class-III and class-IV posts in DC offices, as well as the staff posted in the offices of the three divisional commissioners, director land records, revenue training institute in Jogindernagar (Mandi), directorate of consolidation of holdings (Shimla), settlement offices in Kangra and Shimla under the ambit of the state cadre.
