Cabinet plans sops ahead of LS polls

Moving into an overdrive with political clamour rising, the UPA government is set for an image makeover by taking crucial decisions having possible implications before the next general elections.

Updated on: Apr 17, 2013, 23:43:36 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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Moving into an overdrive with political clamour rising, the UPA government is set for an image makeover by taking crucial decisions having possible implications before the next general elections.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be chairing a Cabinet meeting on Thursday to decide on issues ranging from special economic package for Janata Dal (United) ruled Bihar to a new health mission for urban areas, in addition to new stringent anti-corruption norms for bureaucrats and a new system for appointment of judges of the high courts and the Supreme Court.

A cabinet committee would take a call on Planning Commission's proposal to give Rs 12,000 crore to Bihar under revamped Backward Regions Grant Fund in the 12th plan period.

It comes days after Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar took dig at BJP's most popular chief minister Narendra Modi, the party with whom he is running the state government for the last eight years.

Another key demand of Kumar and other chief ministers to reform how Central government disburses its funds to the states through Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CCS) is also on the Cabinet's agenda.

The commission has proposed that the states should have flexibility to spend at-least 10% of the money as per local conditions in the restructured schemes.

Two big ticket proposals - Rs 10,000 crore urban health mission and national child policy 2012 - that could woo voters would also be considered, sources said.

Under the mission, the Centre proposes to provide money to states to set up medical facilities in cities and towns on the lines of ones in rural areas.

The policy aims to make access to health, nutrition, education, protection and development as undeniable right to every child below the age of 18 and responsibility of the governments to ensure it.

Battling corruption charges in recent years the government is looking for an image-make-over.

The Cabinet would consider important amendments to Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 with an aim to simplify procedure of forfeiture of property of corruption officials and provide protection to hones bureaucrats.

The amendment also aims to put corruption cases against officials on a fast-track mode.

The Cabinet will examine amending the Constitution to change the two-decade long procedure to appoint judges by setting up National Judicial Appointments Commission, a six member body headed by Chief Justice of India.

Proposals to hike dearness allowance of Central government employees by 8% and setting up a Railway Land Development Authority to improve railways financial help are likely to be considered.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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