State PCS

• 01 Sep 2023

Development and Law & Order in the districts will now be reviewed separately

Why in News?

According to information received from the media on August 31, 2023, the evaluation, monitoring and review of law and order & development works in the districts of Uttar Pradesh will now be done at different levels. Chief Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra has issued guidelines to review law & order and development works.

Key Points:

• According to the information, the development work of government departments and officers of various levels in law & order will be reviewed on the basis of information available on the CM dashboard. The poor performing officers will be identified and their work will be improved.
• After the government order, the District Magistrates in 68 districts will review the law & order situation. At the same time, police commissioners in Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Agra, Noida, Prayagraj and Ghaziabad with the police commissioner system will review the law & order situation.
• The review of law & order and development works at the divisional level will now be different. Divisional-level meetings will be held within a period of one week of district-level review meetings.
• A review meeting of development works at the divisional level will be held under the chairmanship of the Divisional Commissioner. In the divisional headquarters where the police commissioner system is not applicable, the law & order meeting will also be held under the chairmanship of the divisional commissioner. The Inspector General of Police, Deputy Inspector General and Police Captains of the districts located in the division will be present in the meeting.
• Additional Commissioner has been appointed as the Nodal Officer in the division for revenue and development work. The Deputy Inspector General of Police has been appointed as the nodal officer for law and order.
• Development work and law & order review will be different at the district level. The review of the development work will be done in the meeting to be held under the chairmanship of the District Magistrate. Instructions have been given to organize the meeting within a week of the publication of the ranking of the CM dashboard every month.
• The Chief Development Officer has been designated as the nodal officer of the CM Dashboard to review the development works at the district level. In districts where the police commissioner system is not in place, the law and order situation will be reviewed in the police line under the chairmanship of the district magistrate. All police stations including SSP, SP, ADM administration, ASP, DSP, and senior prosecution officers will be present in the meeting.
• In the districts where the police commissioner system is in place, including Lucknow, Varanasi, and Kanpur, the law & order situation will also be reviewed every month by the Principal Secretary Home and The Director General of Police.
• In the districts where the Police Commissioner system is implemented, the Police Commissioner will review the law & order situation. Additional Police Commissioner, Joint Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Assistant Police Commissioner, Senior Prosecution Officer and all police station Incharges will be present in the meeting.
• The ranking will be released on the 15th of every month based on the implementation of services and schemes of various departments on the CM dashboard. The ranking will be based on performance index, data quality index and work done on flagship projects.
• In future, the coefficient obtained by the departments based on the ranking of district level officers on the CM dashboard will be used in merit-based online transfers.

Decisions of the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister

Why in News?

In the meeting of the Council of Ministers held at the Chief Minister's residence 'Samatva Bhawan' under the chairmanship of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on August 31, 2023, the Council of Ministers approved a sum of Rs 1200 crore for the upgradation and construction of roads in the urban bodies of the state. Along with approving the 'Kayakalp Yojana', many other important decisions were taken.

Key Points:

• It was decided by the cabinet to make the gas refill available at Rs.450 to the sisters having the connection of 'Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana', received during the period from July 4, 2023 to August 31, 2023.
  • An amount of about Rs 500 per refill will be paid to the Aadhaar-linked bank account of the sisters who have received about 40 lakh gas refills. An expenditure of about Rs 200 crore is expected on this.
• The Cabinet approved a 'Kayakalp Plan' worth Rs 1200 crore for the upgradation and construction of roads of urban bodies of the state. This decision has been taken with the objective of providing a network of good, strong and comfortable roads for the easy movement of citizens in urban areas.
  • In this scheme, the work of renovation, strengthening and construction of major roads of the body will be done in a quality manner according to a time-bound programme.
  • In addition to the appointment of urban state quality monitors for quality control of the works of the scheme, arrangements have also been made for three-level monitoring at the state, directorate and division level.
• The cabinet gave approval to increase the annual income limit of the student's father/guardian from Rs.6 lakh to Rs.8 lakh under 'Mukhyamantri Medhavi Vidyarthi Yojana'.
• The Council of Ministers decided to construct the 40.90 km long West Bhopal Bypass in the southwest part of Bhopal city on a hybrid annuity model at a cost of Rs 2,981 crore 65 lakh.
  • This bypass road will be constructed by Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation in four lanes with paved sholders.
  • In the project, a six-lane structure with a four-lane road and 2 two-lane service roads on both sides will be constructed. One ROB, two flyovers, fifteen underpasses and two major junctions will be constructed along the alignment of the route.
  • According to the proposal, 40 percent of the contract amount will be paid to the investor agency in 5 instalments during the construction work. The remaining 60 percent amount will be paid as half yearly annuity for the next 15 years.
• As per the announcement of the Chief Minister by the Cabinet, it was agreed to organize 'Khelo MP Youth Games' every year in the state on the lines of 'Khelo India Youth Games' and the organizing expenditure of Rs. 200 crore.
• The cabinet decided to create new subdivision Jawa in district Rewa. The new section will include all Patwari Halkas from 01 to 87 in Tehsil Jawa, totaling 87 Patwari Halkas. After the formation of Jawa sub-division, the Patwari circles of Tehsil Teonthar will remain from 01 to 100, a total of 100 Patwari circles will remain in sub-division Teonthar.
• It was decided by the Cabinet to increase the incentive amount of ASHA and urban ASHA workers from Rs 2,000 per month to Rs 6,000 per month for routine activities carried out by them. Also, the incentive amount has been increased according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) every year (in the maximum range of Rs. 1000).
• With this, the daily incentive given to ASHA supervisors was increased to Rs 500 per day (maximum Rs 15,000 per month) and the department has been authorized to take decisions about appropriate increase every year.
• The amount given at the time of retirement of ASHA, Urban ASHA and ASHA supervisors has been increased to Rs 1 lakh. The families of ASHA, Urban ASHA and ASHA supervisors have also been considered as eligible families for 'Pradhan Mantri Jan-Arogya Yojana' during their duty period.
• Two new group water supply schemes have been approved by the Council of Ministers through the Public Health Engineering Department through Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam in Ratlam and Lavkushnagar of Chhatarpur. For this, administrative approval of Rs 967 crore 52 lakh has been issued.
• Formation of 'Madhya Pradesh Dev Narayan Board' by the Council of Ministers to give necessary suggestions and recommendations to the state government for the welfare of Gujjars in Madhya Pradesh, strengthening their social and economic status, employment, skill development and education/training Order ratified September 28, 2020.
• From time to time, the eligible women beneficiaries of the 'Dietary Grant Scheme', run by the Tribal Affairs Department to get rid of malnutrition from the backward tribes Baiga, Bharia and Saharia, in the Ladli Bahna Yojana, run by the Women and Child Development Department, from time to time. It has been decided to give the benefit of the increase in amount equally.
• Along with this, it has also been decided not to give the benefit of Ladli Bahna Yojana to the women beneficiaries who have taken advantage of the Diet Grant Scheme to prevent double benefit of the scheme by the beneficiaries.
• The Council of Ministers has ratified the decision to reduce the market fee on cotton to Rs 0.50 by March 31, 2024. This decision was taken in view of the demand of cotton traders and public representatives to reduce the market fee on cotton and to encourage cotton trade.

Literature, Music, Drama & Fine Arts Academy will be formed in Jharkhand, draft of rules prepared

Why in News?

As per information received from media on August 31, 2023, the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Jharkhand under the Department of Tourism, Art Culture, Sports & Youth Affairs, Jharkhand has formulated a draft Proposal cum Manual for the formation of Sahitya Academy, Sangeet Natak Akademy and Lalit Kala Academy in Jharkhand.

Key Points:

• According to the information, 22 years after the formation of Jharkhand as a separate state, it has been decided to form 'Jharkhand State Sahitya Academy', 'Jharkhand State Sangeet Natya Academy' and 'Jharkhand State Lalit Kala Academy'.
• Its responsibility has been handed over to the Department of Tourism, Art-Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs. Jharkhand Directorate of Cultural Affairs under the department has prepared the draft of the proposal cum rules for the formation of the three academies.
• However, before taking its approval from the cabinet, the state government has sought suggestions, ideas etc. from the eminent artists, litterateurs, cultural workers, theater workers etc. in the proposal for formation of the Academy, so that no error remains in its formation. For this, the Directorate of Cultural Affairs has set time till September 11, 2023.
• Once satisfactory suggestions/ideas are received, they will be included in the proposal/rules and finalized. Persons giving suggestions or ideas can download the prepared proposal cum format manual from the website of the Directorate (www.jharkhandculture.com) and submit their suggestions or ideas by hand/registered post/courier to the Directorate office at MDI Bhawan Dhurwa or then you can also send it to the e-mail of the Directorate ([e-mail]).
• It is known that since the formation of a separate state, there has been a demand through various organizations for the formation of a Sahitya, Sangeet and Lalit Kala Academy along with literature in Jharkhand. Establishment Struggle (Ad-hoc) Committee has been formed for the formation of Sahitya Academy. Sangharsh Committee Chairman Shiromani Mahato along with MLA Vinod Singh and artist Basu Bihari had also met Chief Minister Hemant Soren & demanded the formation of all three academies. Chief Minister Soren had assured the members that action would be taken in this direction soon.

Big relief to the pensioners of Chhattisgarh, now dearness allowance will be increased by 4%

Why in News?

As per the announcement of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on August 31, 2023, the dearness allowance of pensioners, officers and employees of Chhattisgarh has been increased. The Finance Department of Chhattisgarh Government has issued an order for this.

Key Points:

• Dearness allowance has been increased by four per cent for basic pension/family pension in the seventh pay scale. This benefit will be available from the first date of this July month. After this increase, the dearness relief has now increased to 42 percent.
• Along with this, dearness allowance has been increased by 9 percent for the pensioners getting basic pension/family pension of the sixth pay scale. This benefit will also be available from the first of July this year. With this increase, the total increase in dearness relief has gone up to 221 per cent.
• It is worth mentioning that in relation to the dearness relief of pensioners, the approval of both the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is necessary. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had written a letter to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to give approval in this regard soon. After this, as soon as the approval was received, it was decided without delay to provide the benefit of the increase in dearness relief to the pensioners.