Himachal Pradesh Cabinet in its Meeting granted approval to Himachal Pradesh Public Services Guarantee Rules, 2011 aimed at providing time bound notified services to the people by different departments by maintaining transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the administration. The Rules guarantee delivery of notified public services to the citizens and penalize the officials/officers in the case of delay for non delivery of services in critical departments such as Health, Forests, Panchayati Raj, Revenue, Industries, Irrigation and Public Health Department, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Home (Fire Services) MPP& Power, Urban Development and Town and Country Planning. Every citizen, if eligible, shall have a legal right to demand that the notified public services are provided to him within the prescribed time limit. In case the service is wrongfully denied or delayed, the applicant has recourse to remedial measures under the Act/Rules including monetary compensation and disciplinary action against the defaulting officials/officers. Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, presided over the Meeting. It approved guidelines under Section 13(1) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, to simplify the admission procedure to educational institutions in the State and to ensure that all schools follow a system of random selection out of the applications received for admission in class I or pre-primary class as the case may be. Each school should formulate a policy under which admissions will take place. This Policy should include criteria for categorization of applicants in terms of the objectives of the school on a rational, reasonable and just basis. There shall be no profiling of the children based on parental educational qualifications. The Policy should be placed by the school in the public domain, given wide publicity and explicitly stated in the school prospectus. There shall be no testing or interviews for any child/parent falling within or outside the categories and selection would be on a random basis. Admission should be made strictly on above basis. It has further been decided that all private educational institutions upto middle standard shall now be recognised by the Education Department instead of obtaining affiliation from HP Board of School Education. Schools fulfilling prescribed norms shall be inspected by competent authorities within three months of the self declaration made by them which shall be published by respective District Education Officer/Deputy Director of Elementary Education within a fortnight thereafter. The renewal period for recognition shall of five years on payment of annual fee of Rs. 500. Each of the self declaration and recognition application shall be admitted on payment of Rs. 5,000 for primary and upper primary schools, class I to V and VI to VIII and Rs. 10,000 for schools having classes from I to VIII standard. It agreed in principle to explore possibility of developing of Aerial Ropeway Transportation System for transportation of Apple from Apple Belt (Apple Growing Areas) in the State to prospective markets through Private Sector participation and initially get conducted a pre-feasibility study in the area, by appointing Consultant through open competitive bidding by Himachal Pradesh Infrastructure Development Board. In the first instance the study may be limited to the major apple growing areas of Shimla district and the scope of work/terms and conditions of the assignment shall be finalised by the Board in due course of time. It approved Guidelines for hiring services of Cook-cum-Helper under Mid Day Meal Scheme by the School Management Committee in the state owned educational institutions to ensure that the students are served nutritious, fresh and hygienic food on school days. It has been decided to extend the date for submission of Annual Returns under Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005 to November 30, 2011 to facilitate the traders in filing their returns. It granted approval to the Recruitment and Promotion Rule for the post of Senior Lecturer (Pharmacy) (Class-I Gazetted) in the Department of Technical Education. It sanctioned four gypsies to the Department of Forest, Farming and Environment in replacement of old vehicles.
