Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on August 19 addressed the media after the Union Cabinet meeting earlier in the day. He announced key decisions taken during the meet. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, also addressed the media.
Here are some key announcements made during the cabinet briefing:
>> Union Cabinet approves Fair and Remunerative Price for sugarcane, payable by sugar mills for the sugar season 2020-21, at Rs 285 per quintal for a basic recovery rate of 10 percent.
>> It has also approved the setting up of 'National Recruitment Agency' to conduct Common Eligibility Test, a decision that is expected to benefit job- seeking youth of the country. Union Minister Jitendra Singh said the scores of the CET will remain valid for three years, during which time candidates can apply for jobs in different sectors depending upon their aptitude and preferences.
C Chandramouli, Secretary to the govt, said there are over 20 recruitment agencies in the central government, adding that while although exams of only three agencies are being made common as of now, in due course of time a Common Eligiblity Test for all recruitment agencies will be adopted.
Singh hailed the decision as a landmark reform in the history of independent India. He added that it will bring in ease of recruitment, selection, job placement and ease of living, particularly for certain sections of society that are at a disadvantage due to one or the other reason.
>> The Cabinet has also approved a proposal for leasing out the Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports, through a public-private partnership (PPP) mode. These airports are currently managed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). In the first round of privatisation under the Narendra Modi dispensation, the airports in Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati were cleared for operation, management and development through public-private partnership (PPP) model in February 2019.
The AAI, which works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, owns and manages more than 100 airports across the country. In 2018, the government decided to privatise the airports in Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati. Adani Enterprises had won the rights to run these six airports after a competitive bidding process in February 2019.
>> A one-time relaxation to Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation for extending loans to DISCOMs above limits of working capital of 25 percent of last year's revenues, under Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), has also been approved.
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