UP cabinet passes ordinance to amend ULB rules for OBC quota

LUCKNOW: Two days after the Supreme Court paved the way for local body elections in Uttar Pradesh by allowing the State Election Commission to issue a notification on OBC quota, the state Cabinet on Wednesday approved an ordinance which will allow the government to make necessary amendments to the UP Nagar Nigam and Nagar Palika rules.
The ordinance has been sent to the governor for assent.
Urban development minister AK Sharma said that the reservation for urban local body polls had been announced in December 2022 but it was challenged in the court. "The court then asked the government to set up a dedicated commission to determine OBC reservation. Now, to implement the commission's recommendations, we will have to make certain amendments to the rules for which the Cabinet has given its nod to the ordinance," he said.
A five-member commission headed by Justice (retd) Ram Avatar Singh was formed on December 28, a day after the Allahabad high court had ordered that the urban body polls be conducted without OBC quota. The commission submitted its report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on March 9 which was accepted by the Cabinet the next day.
In other decisions, the Cabinet approved a proposal under the UP Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Policy (2022) to exempt purchasers from registration of electric vehicles and scrapping fees. Renewal of registration and fitness certificate will be allowed for free.
The Cabinet also agreed on aproposal under which fitness certificates to vehicles can be issued anywhere in the state, and not just in the city of registration. The Cabinet also gaveits nod to rolling out of the State Urban Digital Mission, its memorandum of association, registration etc. Initially, the programme will be introduced in 17 nagar nigams, and nagar palika parishad and nagar panchayats in district headquarters, followed by the entire state.
The Cabinet also cleared the final bid document for 10 lakh tablets and PCs and 25 lakh smartphones under Swami Vivekanand Yuva Sashaktikaran Scheme. The government will give 50% subsidy for construction of a 100 ton per day compressed biogas plant at Kisan Cooperative Sugar Mill, Gajraula. The government will also give a 20% subsidy for a 60 KLPD distillery at Mohiuddinpur Sugar Mill.
The Cabinet agreed to a proposal for the construction of a four-lane, 2.4km long link from Ghazipur-Azamgarh road to Maharaja Suheldev State University, Aspalpur, at a costof Rs 30.38 crore. A 28.3 km stretch on Lipulek Bhind Road in Shahjahanpur will also be expanded and strengthened at the cost of Rs 294 crore.
The government has also cleared the proposal for extension of the Nishadraj Boat Subsidy Scheme for five years. It will target 3,000 beneficiaries every year who will get 40% subsidy on the purchase of non-motorised boats, life jackets, nets, and iceboxes.
The directions for government departments and corporations, councils, authorities etc., for purchase of suits, cotton bed covers, honeycomb, bedsheets, pillow covers, and blankets from organisations like UPICA, UP State Handloom Corporation and Gandhi Ashram, has been extended to March 31, 2025.
The government has als slashed the price of a single straw of sex selected semen for increase in number of female cattle, from Rs 300 to Rs 100.