SHILLONG:
The Meghalaya Cabinet, on June 6, approved various proposals, including the Office Memorandum (OM) for Reservation Roster and formation of a three-member Search Committee to look for experts to be part of the five-member Expert Committee to review the Reservation Policy.
Briefing media persons after the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma informed that the cabinet has approved amendment of Rules of Executive Business to include Planning, Investment, Promotion and Sustainable Development Department, that was earlier known as Planning Department.
The cabinet also cleared the proposal to create a Directorate of Forensic Sciences that will fall directly under the Home Department and not under the Police Headquarters.
“There is a Forensic Science Cell that works but it is under the Police Headquarters and as per the Human Rights Commission, this department had to be independent of the PHQ and come straight under the Home department,” Sangma said.
He informed that the manpower and system is in place and only administrative decision to have a separate directorate was left. “That decision was cleared today. The cabinet also decided to strengthen the entire Forensic Sciences Department by ensuring investment is made on equipment,” he added.
Furthermore, the cabinet approved the proposal to include the Secretary of the Meghalaya State Public Service Delivery Commission in the list of Heads of Departments under the Meghalaya Fundamental Rules and Subsidiary Rules 1984.
“The basic purpose was to ensure that the secretary of this commission is able to have all the power to conduct the normal procedures and make expenditures at their levels and won’t have to come to the government for different approvals,” the chief minister said.
The cabinet also gave it nod to form a three-member Search Committee – with chief secretary and one member each from Law and Personnel Departments as members, to look for experts from different fields to be part of the five-member Expert Committee to review the Reservation Policy.
Sangma informed that the Office Memorandum (OM) for Reservation Roster amendments was put up today. “With these amendments in the OM, the recruitment process will start post OM that will come out tomorrow or day after tomorrow,” he added.
Furthermore, the cabinet also cleared the proposal to implement a new mission called the CM Solar Mission to have a sustainable green energy as part of the energy mix.
“The government will subsidise different house and institutional units, in urban and rural areas by a certain percentage. It will be a hybrid system to allow some sort of stability in power sector in the long run. It will be a decentralised model and we expect that in the next one month, we will be able to roll this out,” the chief minister said.