Cabinet okays 850 auxiliary force posts for Naxal-hit dists

Bhopal: The state cabinet, chaired by CM Mohan Yadav, on Tuesday approved 850 posts for a Special Auxiliary Force for the Naxal-affected districts of Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori for one year. The work of this force based in the villages in these three districts would be to work for the govt, keep an eye on the movement of Naxals in the area and spread awareness to resist Naxal activities.Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting, urban administration minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said, "The Union govt is working successfully to end Naxalism. The Union home minister Amit Shah has taken a vow to terminate Naxalism by 2026. Everyone is seeing the number of surrenders by Naxals in Chhattisgarh. In our state, we have information that Naxals visit three districts including Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori."Vijayvargiya explained that the cabinet has taken the decision to recruit 850 persons in the villages of these three districts who will work as a Special Auxiliary Force in the Naxal affected districts. "They will work for the govt and keep a vigil of Naxal activities and movements in these regions," the minister said. "They will be paid an honorarium of Rs 25,000 per month," he added.In another decision, the cabinet approved to increase the honorarium of Paralympics medal winners from the state to Rs 1 crore. CM Yadav had announced an honorarium of Rs 1 crore to paralympic athletes Rubina Francis and Kapil Parmar for their excellent performance in the Paralympic Games held in Paris, France from Aug 28 to Sept 8, 2024. Rubina Francis won a bronze medal in shooting, and Kapil Parmar won a bronze medal in blind judo. Council of ministers raised the honorarium from Rs 50 lakh to Rs One crore for the two athletes. Besides, the cabinet decided to exclude Nazul land of Pachmarhi town from the boundary of the wild-life sanctuary. The Nazul area of Pachmarhi town, measuring 395.931 hectares, which is under the administrative control of SADA (an autonomous body of the state govt), will be excluded from the boundary of the Pachmarhi sanctuary. Earlier, through a notification dated 22 December 2017, 11 villages located on the perimeter of the Pachmarhi sanctuary were excluded from the sanctuary and some villages were kept in an enclosure.Vijayvargiya told reporters: "On this land, the govt wants to develop tourism. The state wants to use this additional land to attract both national and international tourists to Pachmarhi." The Cabinet approved the formation of a "State Centralised Pension Processing Cell" for the resolution of pension cases. The State Centralised Pension Processing Cell will be authorized for the entire process related to the resolution of pension cases. For the convenience of divisional and district-level offices and retired government employees, existing divisional and district pension offices will be temporarily maintained as Pension Resolution Centers for 2 years with a limited structure. Rationalization of posts will be done. This will result in a recurring expenditure burden of ₹5 crore on the state government. In yet another important decision, the cabinet approved the establishment of offices of the District Supply Officer under the Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department in newly formed districts of Mauganj, Maihar, and Pandhurna, and Weights & Measures Offices in Niwari, Mauganj, Maihar, and Pandhurna. A total of 16 posts were approved for the three District Supply Officer Offices and 13 posts were approved for the four districts for Weights & Measures Offices.