The upper age limit for employment, to be extended by the State government to economically weaker sections (EWS) under a Central legislation, has been enhanced by five years.
This was decided at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday. On 7 January 2019, the Centre had approved a ten per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the EWS in the general category. This would be over and above the existing 50 per cent reservation for SC/ST/OBC categories extended by the State governments.
The Centre also said people who had an annual gross income below ₹ 8 lakh should be identified for economic reservation. It had also informed the Supreme Court that it would be the State’s prerogative to provide ten per cent economic reservation in government jobs and admissions to educational institutions. In tune with the legislation, the Cabinet on Sunday passed a resolution sticking to the ₹ 8 lakh norm for eligibility to reservations in employment and education. The age limit was also hiked by five years.
By another decision, the Cabinet decided to waive crop loans borrowed by farmers in the range of ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 50,000 this year. The waiver would be taken up from August 15 till month-end. Due to financial constraints in the last two years due to COVID-19 pandemic, the waiver was done up to ₹ 25,000 only. It was the election promise of TRS to waive all crop loans up to ₹ 1 lakh.
The meeting noted that the social security pensions in the State would increase by 6.62 lakh with the government’s decision to lower the age limit for old age pensions to 57. The facility would be available to only one member in a family. With this, the total number of social security pensions would go up to 58 lakh.
The Cabinet also decided to lay foundation stones for construction of five super-speciality hospitals of the government shortly. They would be located at Warangal, chest hospital premises at Erragadda, Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences at Gachibowli, Gaddiannaram and Alwal. The meeting sanctioned a multi-super speciality hospital for workers and other poor at Patancheru.
The health officials were asked to make arrangements for commencement of academic activity at seven new medical colleges next year. The construction of college buildings, hostels, teaching hospitals, beds and creation of other infrastructure were discussed.
To meet further requirement of medical colleges in future, the officials were asked to look out for land.
The meeting discussed the COVID-19 situation nationally and globally and some districts where the cases were high and the plight of children orphaned by the death of their parents due to the pandemic. A ten member Cabinet sub-committee to go into issues of orphans and orphanages was constituted. It consisted of K.T. Rama Rao, T. Harish Rao, P. Sabita Indra Reddy, V. Srinivas Goud, T. Srinivas Yadav, Koppula Easwar, Gangula Kamalakar, A. Indrakaran Reddy, and G. Jagdish Reddy.
