E-Paper
Himachal to open regular school for Classes 9 to 12 from November 2
The consent of parents will be mandatory for students keen to attend school, however, attendance will not be compulsory.
The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to reopen schools on a regular basis for students of classes 9 to 12 from November 2.
The decision was taken on Monday during the state cabinet meeting headed by chief minister Jai Ram Thakur. The consent of parents will be mandatory for students keen to attend school, however, attendance will not be compulsory.
Besides, colleges in the state will resume classes by following the SOPs/guidelines of the ministry of home affairs. An approval was also given to promote students enrolled in 1st and 2nd year undergraduate courses for academic session 2019-20 to the next class as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mandi, Solan and Palampur become municipal corporations
The cabinet also decided to upgrade municipal councils of Mandi, Solan and Palampur to municipal corporations (MC) by merger of adjoining areas. It also decided to create six new nagar panchayats including Kandaghat in Solan district, Amb in Una district, Ani and Nirmand in Kullu district and Chirgoan and Nerwa in Shimla district.
The cabinet gave nod for re-organisation of these Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) including Ner Chowk and Karsog in Mandi district and Jwali in Kangra by delimitation.
It also decided to exempt land and buildings in newly included areas of these ULBs from payment of general tax for a period of three years and to retain the customary rights as provided in the Wazib-Ul-Urz or Record of Rights.
Elections to the ULBs in the state, including newly created municipal corporations and nagar panchayats will be conducted in January, 2021 after consultation with state election commission. The elections to Dharamshala MC will also be conducted in January, 2021 to avoid repetitive polls and associated expenditure. The polls for Shimla MC will be conducted at scheduled time in 2022.
A decision was also taken to restore ‘Janmanch’ Programme from November 8. The Cabinet gave its nod to fill up 1,334 vacant posts of constables, including 976 men and 267 women and 91 drivers, on regular basis through direct recruitment.
The honorarium of I-T teachers engaged on outsource basis in the education department was increased by 10% and will be applicable from April 1. This will benefit 1,345 I-T teachers.
An approval was also given to provide extension in services of already engaged SMC teachers of various categories in elementary and higher education departments for the academic session 2020-21 and their remuneration may also be disbursed to them for the academic session 2020-21 subject to final outcome of Special Leave Petition (Civil) pending in the Supreme Court.
The cabinet gave its nod to allow one-time amnesty by redefining zero date for projects which are under investigation and clearance stage where Implementation Agreements (IAs) have already been signed and by redefining Scheduled Commercial Operation Date (SCOD) for projects under construction stage.
The decision will benefit 221 power projects having total capacity of 1,060 megawatt.
A consent to fill up 32 posts of leading fireman, 11 posts of driver cum pump operator in newly opened fire posts at Sansarpur Terrace in Kangra, Bhawanagar and Sangla in Kinnaur and Patlikuhal in Kullu was also given by the cabinet.
It also decided to provide employment to Miss Tanzin Dolkar, the sister of martyr Tanzin Chhultim of Karpat in Lahaul-Spiti district who laid down his life during encounter with terrorists in Srinagar on August 3, 2017. She will be appointed as Junior Office Assistant (IT) on contract basis in the office of DFO Lahaul-Spiti.
