The State Cabinet on Wednesday accorded sanction to the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation to purchase 700 new CNG buses by availing of a ₹455-crore loan from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) at 4% interest.
The decision is seen as a leg-up to the financially ailing public utility which is struggling to pay salary to its employees. Moreover, spiralling fuel costs and a disgruntled workforce have further hobbled KSRTC functioning.
SC/ST welfare
The Cabinet decided to constitute monitoring committees in all Assembly constituencies for the effective, transparent and time-bound implementation of all Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe development programmes conceived by the government. The district SC/ST Development Officer/Assistant SC/ST Development Officer will be in charge of the monitoring committees. The local MLA will be the chairman and the SC Development Officer will be the convener of the committees.
The members of the said committees will include local self- government bodies’ chairpersons, secretaries, the district panchayat members of the respective divisions, the SC/ST members of the local bodies concerned, project officer/tribal development officer and the engineering division heads of the respective blocks/municipalities/Corporations.
The Cabinet also decided to construct a house at Ernakulam under the LIFE Mission for the rehabilitation of Lijesh, aka Ramu, a Karnataka native and a Maoist who opted to surrender to authorities
The government has also given sanction to the Artco Ltd (Artisans’ Development Cooperative Ltd.) to take a loan of ₹45 crore from the National Backward Classes Finance Corporation for the welfare of the poor and socio-economically backward members of the cooperative.
The Cabinet also approved the recommendations made in the ninth report of the fourth Administrative Reforms Commission.
Post creation
It was decided to create 46 new posts in the Kerala University of Health Sciences. These include seven posts of section officers, 28 posts of assistants and 11 posts of computer assistants.
Kannur University will get 36 new teaching posts.
One contract post of office assistant will be created at the Kerala Real Estate Appellate Tribunal .
The post of Deputy Director allotted to the journalists’ pension section created in 2018 at the Information and Public Relations department has been given sanction for continuation.
Pay revision
The 11th pay revision recommendations for the employees of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy and Kerala Workers’ Welfare Fund Board will be implemented.
