Raipur. A big decision was taken today in the cabinet meeting. Now in the urban body elections to be held in Chhattisgarh, the public will elect the mayor and chairpersons. Giving information about the cabinet meeting, Deputy CM Arun Saw said, the election of the mayor and all the chairpersons in Chhattisgarh will be direct. This process was stopped on 12 December 2019. Now the public will again elecDeputy CM Arun Saw said, it has been ensured that chana distribution is done through auction. We have decided to give tourism the status of industry to promote tourism in the state.t the mayor and chairperson in the urban body elections.
These decisions were taken in the cabinet meeting
Mayors and chairpersons will be elected directly in civic elections
In the cabinet meeting, it has been decided to conduct the election of the Mayor of Municipal Corporations and the President of Municipal Councils in the state through direct method. For this, the draft of Ordinance 2024 was approved in the meeting regarding amendment in various sections of Chhattisgarh Municipal Corporation Act, 1956 (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024 and Chhattisgarh Municipality Act 1961 (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 (Provisions related to direct election and reservation). It is noteworthy that in the undivided Madhya Pradesh state, before 1999, the election of Mayor in Municipal Corporations and President of Municipal Councils was done through direct method. The then government had decided to conduct the election of Mayor of urban bodies and President of Municipal Councils through indirect method, the notification of which was published in the Gazette on 12 December 2019.
50 percent reservation for OBCs in urban body elections
The Backward Classes and Minorities Department of the Chhattisgarh Government has approved the provision of reservation up to the maximum limit of 50 percent in proportion to the number of Other Backward Classes by relaxing the one-time limit of 25 percent in local bodies regarding representation and reservation of Other Backward Classes in the elections of three-tier Panchayats and urban bodies, as per the recommendation received in the report of the Backward Classes Welfare Commission. It was decided to amend various sections to amend the provisions related to representation and reservation of Other Backward Classes in three-tier Panchayati Raj institutions under the Chhattisgarh Panchayat Raj Act, 1993.
Beneficiaries will get high quality gram
The Council of Ministers permitted the Civil Supplies Corporation to procure the required gram for distribution to eligible beneficiaries under the Public Distribution System through the Chamds e-auction platform. It is noteworthy that under the Public Distribution System, the Chhattisgarh government supplies 2 kg of gram at the rate of Rs 5 per kg per month to Antyodaya and priority ration card holders residing in all the scheduled development blocks and Moda packet areas of the state. Currently, 30 lakh 22 thousand families are being benefited under the gram distribution scheme by the Chhattisgarh government. The state needs 6046 tonnes of gram per month and 72 thousand 52 tonnes of gram per year for gram distribution. The procurement of gram has been done by the Civil Supplies Corporation. In order to supply high quality gram to the beneficiaries through Chhattisgarh government’s gram distribution scheme, the cabinet gave permission to the Civil Supplies Corporation to do the same through e-auction platform.
Tourism gets industry status
In the meeting of the Council of Ministers, it was decided to grant the status of industry to tourism in the state on the proposal of Chhattisgarh Tourism Department for promotion and planned development of tourism in the state. It is worth noting that under the new Industrial Policy 2024-30 of the Chhattisgarh Government, apart from including tourism, entertainment and other social service sectors, the Government of India and Chhattisgarh Tourism Policy 2020 have made provision for grants/exemptions/concession like general industries on making minimum permanent capital investment prescribed for tourism projects. Giving industry status to tourism will help in attracting and encouraging private investment in adventure, water tourism, medical and wellness tourism, agro tourism, tourism units, land bank in the state. This will encourage stakeholders. Tourism related infrastructure will be developed. Capital investment related to tourism will increase. Amenities suitable for national and international tourists will be developed in the state. Huge employment opportunities will be created in the field of tourism in the state.
