Cabinet's nod to ex-legislators honorarium

Itanagar, Jan 21 (UNI) The Arunachal Pradesh Cabinet has agreed in principle to fix monthly honorarium of Rs six thousand for former legislators, Water Resource Development Minister Tako Dabi told a press conference today.

Mr Dabi, also an official spokesman, disclosed that the state government had earlier constituted a one-man committee headed by him to study the grievances of former legislators. The report of the committee which was placed in the cabinet recently had recommended fixation of monthly honorarium of Rs 5000 to ex-MLAs, which the cabinet had increased by Rs one thousand.

The cabinet had also decided to go into details on honorarium for sitting MLAs, ministers, Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Chief Minister and accordingly a committee was constituted with Finance Minister Kalikho Pul as its chairman and a few ministers as members, Mr Dabi informed.

The committee would submit its recommendations to the government soon for approval, he added. He said the one man committee, headed by him, which was constituted by the government to go into the details on illegal appointments in the state health department, had already submitted its report to the cabinet. The recommendations of the cabinet on the report would be taken by health secretary for implementation, he said.

The cabinet had also decided to upgrade the post of secretary of Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission(APPSC) to a full-fledged secretary and create a post of joint secretary. Moreover, a separate department of Printing and Stationary with separate directorate was created by the government bifurcating the present Information and Public Relation department, he informed.

Approval for one new post of chief engineer (CE), two posts of additional chief engineers and one post of superintendent engineer in the state public works department was made by the cabinet recently, he said adding, with one more CE, the total posts in the department in the same status rose to five.

In another development, the state cabinet approved regularization of 112 numbers of community information center (CIC) operators, who was working on contract basis for a period of five years under centrally sponsored project in the state, the minister disclosed and added that the cabinet also decided to constitute a committee with minister of land records as its chairman and home minister and law and justice minister as members to examine the encroachment in capital complex. Another one-man committee was also constituted under Home Secretary T Taloh to examine the encroachment at Pasighat Township under East Siang district, he added.

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