COURTESY HT DEC 15

HP extends night curfew till Jan 5
Gaurav Bisht

gaurav.bisht@hindustantimes.com

SHIMLA : In wake of the surge in Covid-19 cases in state, the Himachal Pradesh cabinet has decided to continue night curfew till January 5 in four most affected districts – Shimla, Mandi , Kullu and Kangra.

The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by chief minister Jai Ram Thakur. The cabinet also gave approval to functioning of makeshift hospitals in Shimla, Nalagarh, Tanda and Nerchowk. They gave nod to granting ex post facto permission to operationalise these makeshift hospitals being set up at a cumulative cost of ₹13.28 crore. Fifty percent of these funds are being provided to the CSIR, CBRI Roorkee in advance.

The cabinet further decided to notify new standard operating procedure (SOP) for panchayat and civic body elections that are due next month.

“The contesting candidates will have to follow the SOP, which will be notified shortly,” Jai Ram told the media.

He added that candidates infected with Covid-19 cannot be barred from contesting elections. “Those infected with covid can contest the elections but will have to ensure that they follow the laid norms,” he said.

Meanwhile, the cabinet has given its consent to shifting the deputy inspector general (intelligence and security) office from Shimla to Dharamshala. The cabinet also approved setting up of a Pain and Palliative Care Cell under the radiotherapy department of Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, for providing better healthcare facilities to people.The cabinet gave nod to the Himachal Pradesh Auro Sports Rules, 2020, with a view to promote auro-sports activities in state while adopting safety measures.

Approval to new recruitments

During the meeting, it was decided that 131 posts of different categories in rural development department will be filled on outsource basis for effective implementation of the Rashtriya Gramin Swarojgar Abhiyan.

It accorded its approval to creating a new subdivision of PWD at Majheen in Kangra along with two new sections at Majheen and Seorbala along with creation of six posts of different categories.

It gave nod to filling eight posts of HP administrative services through direct recruitment by joint competitive examinations, 2020. It decided to set up district forensics units in Bilaspur, Nurpur and Baddi along with creation and filling of 12 posts of different categories. The Cabinet has also decided to create and fill 25 posts of junior office assistant (IT) in the agriculture department through direct recruitment on contract-basis.

The cabinet gave nod to creating three new patwar circles in Kolar, Misharwala and Sainwala Mubarikpur, and a new sub-tehsil in Majra by bifurcating patwar circles in Majra and Dhauklakuana of Poanta Sahib tehsil in Sirmaur.

The cabinet gave approval to filling six posts of different categories in town and country planning department besides creating and filling one post of junior office assistant (IT) in SADA, Pangi of Killar. It has decided to create and fill one post of manager marketing in Milkfed on contract basis, besides two posts of plant engineers and one post of computer programmer in Milkfed.

VIRUS CLAIMS 12 MORE LIVES IN HP

Himachal Pradesh on Monday recorded 386 fresh Covid-19 infections, taking the state’s tally of positive cases to 49,761 while the death toll mounted to 813 after 12 more patients succumbed to the contagion. The active cases have come down to 6,948. The overall recoveries reached 41,954 after 676 more patients were cured. The recovery rate has gone up to 84%