The state Cabinet gave its assent to renaming of Allahabad and Faizabad divisions as Prayagraj and Ayodhya, respectively. It also announced a new purchase policy for maize during the kharif season for 2018-19. The Cabinet also announced state-level awards for teachers of recognised but non-aided government secondary colleges. The decision was taken in the state Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna said that Prayagraj division would comprise Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Fatehpur and Pratapgarh districts, while Ayodhya division would include Ayodhya, Ambedkarnagar, Sultanpur, Amethi and Barabanki districts. The decision came a day after the Allahabad High Court asked the Centre and the state government to file counter affidavits within a week on a petition challenging the decision to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj.
State government spokesperson and Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh said that for the first time the government had fixed the purchase rate of maize which would be Rs 1,300 per quintal besides farmers would get additional Rs 20 per quintal for cleaning and transportation. He added that the government would spend around Rs 214 crore for purchasing around one lakh metric tonne of maize. In the first phase, the purchase will be made in 20 districts and later more districts may be included as per demand.
In another decision, the government has announced awards for teachers of the non-aided secondary colleges in the state. “There are 18 divisions in the state so one teacher from each division will be selected for the ‘Best Teacher Award’ and will get a cash award of Rs 25,000. The function will be held every year on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on December 25,” he said. There are 19,275 non-aided secondary colleges in the state and for the award a teacher should have a service of 15 years and a principal of 20 years.
The Cabinet also approved the report of the Justice Raj Mani Chouhan Committee to be tabled in the state Assembly, which had probed the stampede at the Jai Gurudev satsang in Varanasi on October 15, 2016. A total of 25 people were killed in the stampede at Kateshar-Dorari village where the satsang was organised.
The government also approved a proposal to amend the rule by merging the post of lecturer in the state medical colleges by creating a new post of assistant professor. Now the direct appointment by the UPPSC will be done for the post of assistant professor instead of lecturer’s post.
The government gave permission to hand over 48.03 sq metres of land of the Women’s Polytechnic in Lucknow to the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) for the construction of a metro station while an approval was given to acquire 130 buildings in the second phase of Kashi Vishwanath temple corridor in Varanasi.
Lastly, the government has approved a proposal to set up a governing body headed by the Health Minister to run the new medical colleges at Basti, Faizabad, Farrukhabad, Ferozabad and Shahjahanpur.
