325 Kedarnath disaster victims to get houses

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 28

The 325 owners whose property in Kedarnath was damaged during the natural disaster would get newly constructed houses apart from compensation. A decision to this effect was taken during a Cabinet meeting that was held in Dehradun yesterday.

Giving information about the Cabinet decisions, Uttarakhand Chief Secretary N Ravishankar stated that the Cabinet approved a Rs 90 crore fund for paying compensation to the 325 persons whose property was destroyed in Kedarnath.

The Cabinet decided to extend the current excise policy till April 15, 2015. It was decided to relax norms for setting up of private universities in the hills.

It was decided to set up a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to ensure speedy decisions on applications linked to setting up private universities in the hills. The Cabinet decided to lay stress on vocational courses in colleges and giving importance to English in curriculum.

In a major relief to family members of class III and class IV state government employees who died in service, the Cabinet decided to provide a job each to one family member of every deceased employee.

In order to boost tourism, the Cabinet decided to develop disaster-hit Sonprayag as a model hill station of the state. The concession on VAT being given on products linked to information technology was extended up to March 31, 2016.

In another important decision, the Uttarakhand Cabinet decided to set up a committee headed by the Chief Secretary to regularise 343 work charge employees of the drinking water corporation.