Dehradun, Oct 22 Uttarakhand Cabinet approved 25 proposals as it met on Thursday, ahead of the two-day Assembly session scheduled to take place in the winter capital Gairsain next week.
The proposals approved included changes in the Uniform Civil Code Rules, a one-time settlement scheme for resolution of pending stamp-duty-related cases, and establishment of an Uttarakhand Adventure Tourism Corporation Limited.
The cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, also approved changes to the approval process for road and bridge construction works under the Public Works Department.
Currently, under the second phase, approvals for various components — such as hill-slope cutting, construction of retaining walls, culverts, drains and other related works — are granted in separate stages.
As per the new system, all works in the second phase will be approved in a single stage, which will ensure that all essential protective measures after hill-slope cutting can be implemented in a timely manner, thereby minimising damage to the roads.
The cabinet also approved a proposal to raise the annual family income limit for eligibility under the free coaching scheme to Rs 8 lakh from Rs 2 lakh.
The scheme is run by the Social Welfare Department for students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Officials said the new approval will enable a larger number of students to avail free coaching for competitive examinations.
Approval was also given to notify the “Civil Code (Amendment) Rules, Uttarakhand, 2026” to implement the provisions of the “Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand (Amendment) Act, 2026”.
Officials said this will address the practical difficulties encountered during the implementation of certain provisions of the original Code, and also rectify clerical errors.
The meeting also gave nod to amendments to the relevant regulations, to grant 5 per cent relaxation in passing marks for students with disabilities appearing for examinations conducted by the Uttarakhand Board of School Education.
Consequently, students falling under this category will be considered “passed” upon securing 28 per cent marks.
In the cabinet meeting, a decision was taken to restructure all 13 District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET) in the state, through which the number of existing positions in each DIET will be reduced from 48 to 44.
Under the “PM Poshan” scheme, the cabinet approved a proposal to allocate land to Annamrita Foundation in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts, for establishment of centralised kitchens that provide cooked meals.
The state cabinet approved a proposal to deploy 14 head coaches — one for each district and one at the Directorate of Sports — to implement the “One District, One Sport” scheme. The head coaches will be appointed on a three-year contractual basis, with eligibility and experience criteria as prescribed by the Sports Authority of India, and a fixed monthly honorarium of Rs 1.45 lakh.
A proposal was put forth to provide free travel facilities in Uttarakhand Transport Corporation buses to athletes who have received awards at the national or state level.
The annual report of the Uttarakhand Human Rights Commission for the 2019-22 period, along with details of actions taken by various departments on the Commission’s recommendations, was submitted for Cabinet approval.
According to the report, a total of 16,388 cases were registered, of which 15,075 have been disposed of. The report is to be placed before the state legislature in accordance with the relevant provisions.
The cabinet decided to implement a “One-Time Settlement” (OTS) scheme to ensure expeditious resolution of pending stamp-duty-related cases, facilitate revenue collection, and provide relief to the parties concerned regarding liabilities on interest and penalties.
As of financial year 2026-27, approximately 3,600 stamp-duty-related cases are pending before the courts of the Stamp Collector and the Board of Revenue.
The cabinet discussed a proposal to amend the Uttarakhand Private Universities Act, 2023, to abolish the requirement to deposit a “Permanent Endowment Fund” with the state government for establishment of private universities.
A go-ahead was given for the Uttarakhand Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, to be introduced as a Bill in the upcoming Assembly session. The ordinance was promulgated on September 3 to amend the Uttarakhand Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, in line with the amendments made to the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
The cabinet further decided to upgrade the pay scale for junior engineers at the Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency, establish the “Uttarakhand Adventure Tourism Corporation Limited” to ensure the planned, safe and sustainable development of adventure and eco-tourism within the state, rename the maintenance grant scheme as “Mukhyamantri Ekal Nari Samman Yojana”, among other decisions.
(PTI News)
