Cabinet Decision: Rs 149 Crore Approved to Accelerate Dairy Development in Vidarbha and Marathwada

In a Cabinet meeting held today, a decision was made to implement Phase II of the Dairy Development Project in 19 districts of Vidarbha and Marathwada, with the aim of accelerating dairy development in these regions. The meeting was presided over by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

An expenditure of Rs 149 crore was approved for the project. The total project cost is Rs 328.42 crore, of which Rs 179.16 crore will be contributed by farmers and the animal husbandry sector. This decision aligns with the state’s goal of achieving a one trillion dollar economy, which includes significant contributions from agriculture, agri-businesses, and the dairy industry.

The project will be implemented in the districts of Nagpur, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gondia, Wardha, Buldhana, Yavatmal, Washim, Gadchiroli, Amravati, Akola, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Nanded, Latur, Dharashiv, and Parbhani in Vidarbha and Marathwada until 2026-27. This phase follows an earlier implementation of the project in 11 districts of Vidarbha and Marathwada in 2016. The project aims to increase the number of milch animals through artificial insemination and embryo transplant techniques, provide farmers with a variety development program, balanced diet and quality fodder, offer animal health services, and allocate cows and buffaloes with high milk production capacities to enhance farmers’ income and employment opportunities.

During the three-year period, 13,400 milch cows and buffaloes will be distributed across the 19 districts. The project headquarters will be located in Nagpur, and a District Project Officer will oversee its implementation.

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Medical Reimbursement Scheme Approved for Employees of Deccan College, Gokhale Institute, and Tilak Maharashtra University

In the Cabinet meeting held today, approval was granted for the implementation of a medical reimbursement scheme for the teaching and non-teaching staff of Deccan College, the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, and Tilak Maharashtra University. The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

As these three institutions are recognized universities under the aegis of the Government of Maharashtra, it was decided to extend the medical reimbursement scheme currently applicable to government-aided colleges to them.

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Relaxation of Registration Requirement for Additional Electricity Tariff Concession on Looms

In the Cabinet meeting held today, a decision was made to relax the registration requirement for additional electricity tariff concessions on looms. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde presided over the meeting.

The condition will be relaxed to provide an additional power tariff concession of 75 paise per unit for machines with power ratings above 27 horsepower but less than 201 horsepower, and Rs 1 per unit for machines with power ratings below 27 horsepower. This decision follows representations made by various public representatives, as well as textile industry associations and handloom units, requesting the cancellation of the registration requirement.

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Lump Sum Payment for Retired Clinical and Intensive Care Professors

A decision was made in today’s Cabinet meeting to provide a lump sum payment to retired professors from government and private medical colleges. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde presided over the meeting.

Clinical and intensive care professors and associate professors in Government Medical Colleges are currently paid on a contractual basis. To ensure the availability of faculty and benefit students and patients, a special provision was made to offer lump sum gratuity to retired professors. Professors in the rest of Maharashtra will be paid Rs 1.85 lakh, and associate professors will receive Rs 1.70 lakh. For remote area colleges, professors will be paid Rs 2 lakh, and associate professors will receive Rs 1.85 lakh.

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Cement Concreting of 6,000 km of Roads: Approval of Revised Expenditure of Rs 37,000 Crore

In the revised hybrid annuity scheme, six thousand kilometers of roads in the state were initially slated for asphalting. However, in today’s Cabinet meeting, it was decided to opt for cement concreting instead, with an approved revised expenditure of Rs 37,000 crore. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde presided over the meeting.

The earlier approved cost for asphalting was Rs 28,500 crore. With this new decision, the amount of government participation in the revised hybrid annuity scheme has increased by Rs 2,589 crore, bringing the total government participation to Rs 11,089 crore. The participation amount for the Maharashtra State Infrastructure Development Corporation has risen to Rs 5,875 crore. These 6,000 km of roads will be handed over to the Corporation for a period of 17.5 years.

The decision to upgrade Class Two inam and temple lands to Class One in Rathwada, benefits to lakhs of citizens

A decision was taken in the cabinet meeting held today to convert the Class Two inam and temple lands in Marathwada into Class One. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde presided over the meeting. This decision will benefit lakhs of citizens and address a 60-year-old demand.

Accordingly, the Hyderabad Bounty Abolition and Cash Grants Act, 1954, and the Hyderabad Excess Grants Inquiry Act, 1952, will be amended. It has been decided to levy the consideration amount for converting grant-in-aid land (land awarded for service) to Class 1 for non-agricultural purposes in Marathwada at five percent instead of 50 percent of the current market value. Similarly, based on the recommendation of the committee, it was also decided to amend Section VI of the Hyderabad Excess Grants Inquiry Act, 1952, to allow some flexibility in land transfers.

In all eight districts of the Marathwada division, 42,710.31 hectares of land is classified as Atiyat grant or Khidmatmash inam land (land given for the maintenance of shrines). Additionally, 13,803.13 hectares of land are classified as Madtash Inam land.

The provisions of the Hyderabad Inam Abolition and Cash Grants Act, 1954, apply to Madtash Inam lands in the Marathwada Division. According to the provisions of Section 6(1) of the 1954 Act regarding the Abolition of Hyderabad Inams and Cash Grants in the eight districts of Marathwada, as per the government circular dated 09.07.1960, the lands held by the inamdars were transferred to the Khalsa government on 01.07.1960. After that, the lands were re-granted to the Inamdar, Kabij-e-Kadeem, Kayam Kul, and Sadhe Kul under the condition of two new undivided occupants without the prior permission of the competent authority, by taking the Nazarana/occupancy value of the land.

Section 6(3) of the Hyderabad Inam Abolition and Cash Grants Act, 1954, restricted the transfer of bounty lands in the Marathwada Division. However, there have been large-scale illegal transfers of bounty lands held by farmers in the Marathwada division. The Hyderabad Inam Abolition and Cash Grants Act, 1954, was amended in 2015 to ease these restrictions. Accordingly, permission was given to convert these lands to Class-1 by paying 50 percent of the consideration amount. However, even after that, there was a need to relax more restrictions on the transfer of this bounty land. Based on the demands of various people’s representatives, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of the then Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad Beed, Avinash Pathak. This committee submitted its report to the government.

Additionally, in response to complaints regarding the unauthorized transfer of Devasthan Inam lands in Beed district, the government issued directives. Following the recommendations in the report of the Committee constituted by the Divisional Commissioner, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, it was necessary to extend the one-year time limit specified in section 2(a)(3) of the Hyderabad Inam Abolition and Cash Grants Act, 1954, to examine the legal validity and regularity of the cases taken under sub-section (1). In view of this, the Cabinet decided to amend Section 2A(3) of the Hyderabad Abolition of Bounties and Cash Grants Act, 1954, to confer powers of re-examination on the Divisional Commissioner with the approval of the Government to review exceptional cases where the type of land has been determined under the provisions of Section 2(a) of this Act.

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The mayor’s term extended to five years from two and a half years

A decision was taken in the cabinet meeting held today to extend the tenure of the mayors of elected municipal councils in the state to five years from two and a half years. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde presided over the meeting.

For this, the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Municipalities, and Industrial Cities Act, 1965, will be amended. The general elections for municipal councils in the state were held in 2021-22, with a tenure of two and a half years. As this period is ending, it was decided to extend the term to five years. This decision will be implemented with retrospective effect.

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Fixed interest rate agreement with KfW Company for loans for solar power projects

A decision was taken in the cabinet meeting today to enter into an agreement with KfW Company at a fixed interest rate for a loan for 390 MW solar power projects in the state. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde presided over the meeting.

The cost for these projects was approved at ₹1494.46 crore instead of ₹1564.22 crore. According to the instructions of the central government, the counterpart funding should be at least 30 percent of the project, so as per the revised financial pattern, the loan ratio was approved at 70 percent instead of 85 percent of the project cost. KfW Company’s loan amounting to 130 million euros will be repaid over a maximum of 12 years at a fixed interest rate of 2.84 percent per annum instead of 0.05 percent. These projects are being set up in Yavatmal, Washim, and Chandrapur districts.