India, July 22 -- The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday approved 16 major proposals spanning women's empowerment, higher education, public transport, infrastructure, cooperative banking and administrative reforms, with the launch of the Rani Lakshmibai Scooter Scheme emerging as the flagship decision. The proposals were cleared at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his official residence on Kalidas Marg. Under the new scheme, the state government will provide petrol-powered scooters to meritorious girl students graduating from universities and colleges across Uttar Pradesh. Higher Education Minister Yogendra Upadhyay said the initiative is expected to benefit nearly 50,000 students and has been allocated a budget of Rs 400 crore.
The scheme will cover the top five per cent of final-year undergraduate girl students from all universities and colleges whose annual family income does not exceed Rs 12 lakh. Girl students from families of persons with disabilities, martyrs and destitute households will receive special priority, with graduation alone being sufficient for eligibility in these categories. Each beneficiary will receive a petrol-powered scooter along with registration charges, insurance, an ISI-certified helmet, essential accessories and five litres of petrol. The scooters will be procured through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal to ensure transparency.
To strengthen women's higher education infrastructure, the Cabinet approved the construction of a 112-seat women's hostel at Basant Kanya Mahavidyalaya in Varanasi at an estimated cost of Rs 2.48 crore. It also cleared the establishment of a 500-bed working women's hostel in Varanasi to provide safe and affordable accommodation for employed women. The government also approved the creation of research chairs in higher education institutions to promote academic research and improve educational standards. In the transport sector, the Cabinet sanctioned the purchase of 220 electric buses for the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation at a cost of Rs 400 crore. The move is aimed at expanding the state's electric public transport network, reducing carbon emissions and improving urban mobility.
Among other decisions, the Cabinet approved amendments to the service rules for clerical employees of the Women Welfare Department and sanctioned an interest-free loan of Rs 20 crore to the Uttar Pradesh Outsource Service Corporation to strengthen its operations. It also approved new service rules for the Governor's Secretariat and domestic service staff, cleared land for constructing a new Sub-Registrar's office in Kanpur Nagar, and allowed the Uttar Pradesh Cooperative Gram Vikas Bank to raise loans of up to Rs 650 crore from NABARD, backed by a state guarantee of up to Rs 1,500 crore. The Cabinet approved convening the Monsoon Session of the Assembly from August 3 to August 6.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.