Cabinet plays Santa: Goodies for advocates, assistant cops

Ranchi: The Jharkhand cabinet on Friday played Santa Claus for the advocates of the state by passing three separate proposals to raise their monthly pensions, provide accidental and medical insurances, and increase the monthly stipends for new advocates.
“Advocates above 65 years of age, who have rendered their licences, will now get a monthly pension of Rs 14,000 in place of Rs 7,000 at present.New advocates, who get Rs 1,000 monthly stipends, will now get Rs 5,000. Likewise, state govt will provide an annual premium of Rs 6,000 for medical and accidental insurances to more than 15,000 advocates statewide,” cabinet secretary Vandana Dadel said after the meeting.
The contributions to all the three schemes will be made by govt to Jharkhand Advocates’ Welfare Fund, she added.
The 12-member cabinet approved 63 proposals at Friday’s meeting.
In a move to appease the assistant police personnel, who have been on a warpath on various demands, the cabinet approved to extending their service period for one more year. Their remuneration was increased to Rs 13,000 per month and medical and accidental insurance covers were hiked to Rs 1 lakh and Rs 4 lakh respectively. “Assistant police personnel will now get an annual allowance of Rs 4,000 for uniforms and women police personnel will get maternity leaves at par with other contractual workers,” Dadel added.
In another decision, the cabinet approved a proposal to extend the monthly stipends under Mukhyamantri Maiyya Samman Yojana to include women aged 18 years and above. Earlier, the scheme was for women aged between 21-50 years. With lowering of the slab, 8 lakh new beneficiaries will be added to the existing 48 lakh beneficiaries.
In another decision, the ministerial council approved separate proposals to build 500 bed Adivasi Hostels for boys and 528 bed Adivasi Hostels for girls in Ranchi and Medininagar in Palamu. In Ranchi, the boys’ hostel will be built on the existing Adivasi Hostel premises in Karamtoli while girls’ hostel will come up at Womens’ College (Science Block).
The cabinet also sanctioned several road construction, strengthening and widening projects across Dumka, Bokaro, Ramgarh, Palamu, Lohardaga and Garhwa districts at a cumulative cost of Rs 1,000 crore. A 98.05 acre land parcel was handed over to the NTPC for its proposed Badam coal project at Barkagaon in Hazaribagh on a 30-year-lease at Rs 44.25 crore.