Cabinet Okays Private Varsity Tag For GIET

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Cabinet cleared six proposals in a meeting presided over by chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat here on Friday.

Briefing mediapersons after the meeting, chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said the Cabinet approved a hike in the health insurance and medical allowance for the former legislators. The revised limit of the health insurance for former legislators has been increased to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 2 lakh per annum, while they will be provided with a monthly medical allowance of Rs 2000.

He said the sitting allowance of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Ministers has been increased to Rs 800 from Rs 150.

The Cabinet also approved a proposal of the Forest and Environment Department on the educational qualification for the appointment of the Foresters. Henceforth, candidates applying for the post of Forester must have a Bachelor Degree in Science.

Besides, the proposal of the Water Resources department for amendment in the Odisha Ground Water (Regulation, Development and. Management) Act, for setting up of two underground drip irrigation projects in Belpahar, Jharsuguda and Brajarajnagar was also approved by the State Cabinet. Under these projects, the river water of Mahanadi would be utilized, the chief secretary informed.

The Cabinet also approved a proposal to accord private university status to the Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology (GIET) at Gunpur in Koraput district as it had fulfilled all criteria.

This apart, the Cabinet also decided that there would be no collection of fees from the primary members of the Cooperative Societies.