Solan, Mandi and Palampur urban bodies are now MCs

Sun Staff News

Shimla : The Himachal Pradesh cabinet today decided to upgrade Municipal Councils of Mandi, Solan and Palampur to Municipal Corporations by including adjoining areas.

It also decided to create six new nagar panchayats : Kandaghat in Solan district, Amb in Una district, Ani and Nirmand in Kullu district and Chirgoan and Nerwa in Shimla district.

It also gave its nod for re-organization of these Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). This includes Ner Chowk and Karsog in district Mandi and Nagar Panchayat Jwali in Kangra district by exclusion and inclusion of certain areas.

 The Cabinet decided to exempt land and buildings in newly included areas of these Urban Local Bodies from payment of general tax for a period of three years and to retain the customary rights as provided in the Wazib-Ul-Urz in the record of rights.

It also decided that election to the ULBs in the State (including newly created nagar panchayats) and newly created Municipal Corporations of Mandi, Solan and Palampur would be conducted in January, 2021 after consultation with State Election Commission. The elections to Municipal Corporation Dharamshala will also be conducted with all ULBs in January, 2021 to avoid repetitive elections and associated expenditure. The elections for Shimla Municipal Corporation will be conducted in due course in 2022.

The Cabinet decided to conduct regular classes from 9th to 12th standard in educational institutions of the State from 2nd November, 2020 besides colleges of the State.

The Cabinet gave its nod to fill up 1334 vacant posts of Constables which includes 976 male and 267 female and 91 drivers on regular basis through direct recruitment.

It gave its nod to allow one time amnesty by redefining zero date for projects which are under investigation and clearance stage where Implementation Agreements (IAs) have already been signed and by redefining Scheduled Commercial Operation Date (SCOD) for projects under construction stage.  This decision will benefit 221 power projects having total capacity of 1060 MW.