The Centre on Thursday decided to allot a Delhi Development Authority (DDA) flat to the family of the 23-year-old girl who was gang-raped in a moving bus here last December. A middle-income group flat costing around Rs 50 lakh is likely to be allotted from the vacant pool with the DDA, officials said. The proposal was mooted by the Urban Development Ministry and got the Union Cabinet’s approval during a meeting this evening.
The other decisions taken by the Centre were:
Wakf properties Bill cleared
A Bill aimed at checking rampant encroachment of Wakf properties and to make them commercially viable by extending their lease period from three years to thirty years was also cleared by the Union Cabinet on Thursday. The proposed amendments also make encroachment of wakf properties a cognisable and non-bailable offence and provides for a maximum punishment of two years rigorous imprisonment.
NCSK’s tenure extended
The Centre also decided to extend the tenure of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) by three years till March 31, 2016.
The Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, took the decision to help fulfil the desired objectives of the welfare and development of the target group.
An official statement issued after the meeting said there was a continued need to monitor the various interventions and initiatives of the government for the welfare of safai karamcharis in general, and to address the problem of manual scavenging, in particular. An amount of Rs 11.50 crore would be required for meeting the expenditure for the extension of the tenure of the Commission.
Minimum wages proposal cleared
The Centre also cleared a proposal to make the minimum wages announced by the Centre for workers in unorganised sector statutory for all states so as to bring parity in wages paid.
At present the national floor level minimum wage is Rs. 115 per day, but since it is not binding on State governments and employers, the Centre merely advises States to raise the wages so that they are on a par with the national floor level.
IB Ministry gets approval
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry got the Cabinet’s approval for a one-time age relaxation for appointment of a member finance on the Prasar Bharati board, according to sources. The position had been vacant for some time and the Ministry needed to go to the Cabinet, because an earlier recommendation by the group of ministers (GoM) felt the Prasar Bharati board should have younger members.
