At a Cabinet meeting on Friday, the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh decided to discontinue the free electricity scheme for income-tax payers. However, the 125-unit free power subsidy for domestic consumers will remain in place for other groups, such as BPL and IRDP families.
The cabinet took key decisions, including streamlining provisions for the Zero Electricity Bill, limiting subsidies to a ‘One Family One Meter’ policy, and connecting electricity connections to Aadhaar-seeded ration cards. The Cabinet notably ended subsidies for a broad range of officials and categories, including Chief Ministers, ministers, MPs, MLAs, government employees, and income taxpayers.
Additionally, the Cabinet approved land acquisition and compensation for families affected by the Kangra Airport expansion. Education reforms included the creation of 486 lecturer physical education posts, 157 supernumerary principal school cadre posts, and 245 special educator positions to support children with special needs. The Cabinet also sanctioned new positions for fire officers, and police personnel for heliport deployment, and regularized 18 Grameena Vidya Upasaks as junior basic teachers.
