Schools in Himachal Pradesh to remain closed till Sept 4, check other state cabinet decisions

The Himachal government has also decided to fill up 4,000 posts of different categories of teachers including 820 posts of drawing teachers and 870 posts of physical education teacher posts in the Education Department.

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to further close the schools in the state till September 4, 2021, said the state's Education Minister Govind Singh Thakur. The state government took the decision in view of the rising COVID-19 cases in the hill state, which on Tuesday reported 281 new COVID-19 cases, 253 recoveries, and 4 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The state government, however, has decided to fill up 4,000 posts of different categories of teachers including 820 posts of drawing teachers and 870 posts of physical education teacher posts in the Education Department.

The decision to this effect was passed in the Himachal Pradesh cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, on Tuesday. Of the total posts, 2,640 would be in the Elementary Education department and the remaining in the Higher Education department. It was decided that batch-wise recruitment would be expedited.

Shimla Water Supply and Sewerage Services Delivery Programme

The state cabinet also approved the draft package negotiated by the state Urban Development department with the World Bank and the Department of Economic Affairs of the Centre for funding the Shimla Water Supply and Sewerage Services Delivery Programme in the Greater Shimla area with an outlay of $250 million (Rs 1,813 crore).

Of the Rs 1,813 crore, the World Bank will provide an assistance of Rs 1,160.32 crore and the state government will bear Rs 652.68 crore, an official statement said.

The cabinet authorized the Principal Secretary of the Urban Development department to sign the negotiation deal with the World Bank.

The main components of the project include augmentation of water supply from the Satluj river with additional 67 million litre per day (MLD) to meet the water demand till 2050 and bulk water supply of special area development authorities of Kufri, Shoghi and Ghanahatti.

The project envisages lifting water from the river near Shakrodi village involving lifting to a height of 1.6 km and pipe laying of 22 km to augment 67 MLD water at Sanjauli near here. The project also seeks to replace the distribution pipe network across the Shimla Municipal Corporation to upgrade it to 24x7 water supply system.

The sewerage network in areas of Mehli, Panthaghati, Totu and Mashobra will be provided. This will be a flagship project for the state as it seeks to provide world-class water supply and sewerage system in Shimla.

(With Agency Inputs)