Cabinet approves waiver of RS 372 CR pending water charges

The state cabinet granted approval for the remission of overdue water charges, including surcharges and interest, totaling Rs 372.13 crore. This decision will have a positive impact on 28.87 lakh households in rural Haryana, extending its benefits to the scheduled caste families within the state.

While announcing the same during a Jan Samvad programme at Ateli Mandi in the Mahendragarh district, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said: “The benefit does not extend to institutional, commercial, or industrial consumers falling under the public health engineering department.

The cabinet has approved the waiver of water charges amounting to Rs 336.35 crore, accumulated from April 1, 2015, to December 31, 2022, for all types of consumers in villages and rural areas. This encompasses general category and SC categories. Besides, approval has also been granted for waiver of surcharge and interest totalling Rs 37.93 crore on water charges accumulated from April 1, 2015, to December 31, 2023.”
The agenda was one among the 17 items brought before the cabinet for discussion. Of these, five items including couple of bills to be brought through ordinance, have been deferred for the next meeting of the cabinet, said the CM. Other important decision by the cabinet included financial aid for village chowkidars and special honorarium for people with rare diseases.

To enhance the enforcement capabilities of the transport department, the Haryana cabinet accorded approval to bestow challaning powers upon transport inspectors under Rule 225 of the Haryana Motor Vehicles Rules 1993.
Currently, there are 114 positions for transport inspectors in the state, with 66 officers in the transport department already assigned primarily to enforcement duties.
The cabinet also accorded approval to amend The Chowkidara (Watchman) Rules, 2013 to provide one-time financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to a gramin chowkidar (watchman) after retirement. The decision will benefit all gramin chowkidars and the state government will bear the total financial burden.
Individuals grappling with rare diseases will receive monthly financial aid under the

“Financial Assistance to Persons Suffering from Rare Diseases” scheme. This initiative is a proactive response to the rising incidence of rare diseases impacting families and communities throughout Haryana.

Under this scheme, individuals suffering from rare diseases, meeting the eligibility criteria, will receive monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,750 per month. The financial assistance provided under this scheme will be in addition to the benefit being availed under any other social security pension scheme by the applicant.

The cabinet accorded approval to a proposal regarding the deletion of seven castes, namely Aheria, Aheri, Heri, Hari, Turi or Thori from Sr. no. 1, amendment of the word Jangam-Jogi as Jangam at Sr. No. 31 and omission of Rai Sikh caste from Sr. 50 in the state list of backward classes (Block-A), in the schedule of the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in educational Institutions) Act, 2016.
In the meantime, the government of Haryana has given its approval to a proposal for a special one-time cash award of Rs 6,50,000 for PVSM to Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, who holds the designations of PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM, and ADC.