Ministers cannot announce schemes without approval from government

CABINET DECISIONS

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Henceforth, no minister of the state can announce any scheme and financial grants which have not been approved by the Cabinet or mentioned in the Budget in any public meeting. The Cabinet took this decision today.

Disclosing the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said, "Ministers can receive public demands for various schemes from the public at public meetings and submit the demands to the government. The ministers can announce schemes and grants only after their approval by the government."

As often as not, ministers announce schemes at various public functions to please them. However, most of such announcements fail to see the light of the day due to a lack of funds. This practice leads to resentment among the public.

Mahanta said, "The Cabinet has decided to do away with the tradition of felicitating the Chief Minister and other ministers in every government function. The organizers will felicitate Union ministers and dignitaries attending government functions as special guests. The no-felicitation to ministers will continue when ministers are on tour in districts. During such tours, the ministers will have to plant saplings."

Government functions spend 30-40 minutes felicitating every person on the dais. The Cabinet took this decision to save this valuable time.

Mahanta said, "Henceforth, the traffic police cannot block roads for more than two minutes to make way for the convoys of the Chief Minister or other ministers. From now, the Chief Minister's convoy will comprise six vehicles in Guwahati and 12 elsewhere in the state. "The Cabinet today urged the Governor to call the Budget session from March 14, 2022.

"The Cabinet requested the State Election Commission (SEC) to complete the municipal board elections before March 10, 2022. The Cabinet will decide the issue of the GMC (Guwahati Municipal Corporation) poll later on. "The Cabinet asked the Agriculture, Food and Civil Supplies departments, and the district administrations to monitor the adherence to Rs 1,940 MSP (minimum support price) for per quintal of paddy during their procurement.

"The Cabinet reviewed the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in the state. It instructed the guardian ministers to submit the progress of JJM in their assigned districts to the government after a month. "The Cabinet approved Tamulpur as a new district."

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