The Meghalaya cabinet took a slew of decisions today at its meeting here, including giving its approval to a proposal to redevelop government-owned land in Khyndailad in the state capital and to take out a loan for the purpose.
The loan will be availed from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) Bank, a note from the Chief Minister’s office said.
Meanwhile, the cabinet also appointed an officer on special duty (OSD) in the Power Department. The OSD (Technical) was named as UN Madan, a retired chief engineer in the Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (MePDCL). He has been taken on for a period of three years and will be entitled to receive remuneration at the rate of the last pay drawn minus pension and allowances.
The cabinet also took time to approve a proposal to allow vehicle owners to keep their old licence plate number when buying a new car.
This would appeal to car owners who had paid extra for a vanity licence plate and who would want to use the same number on a new car when they either sell or scrap their old one. A fee of either Rs 10,000 or Rs 15,000 will be charged for this privilege. If the retention fee is not paid, then the number will automatically become the property of the government.
The cabinet also approved an amendment to the Meghalaya Civil Service Rules 1975, which would allow MCS officers to add the marks they earn during induction training at the Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute (MATI) to the marks they secure in the competitive civil service exam in order to determine their rank and seniority.
Meanwhile, decisions were also taken on amendments to the Meghalaya Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 that were necessitated by changes made to the central government’s act and the framing of the Meghalaya Forensic Science Laboratory Service Rules 2021.
