The Cabinet today approved creation of post of Chief of the Defence Staff, CDS which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address this year. The post of Chief of Defence Staff will be the rank of 4-Star General with salary equivalent to Service Chiefs and will head the Department of Military Affairs to be created under Ministry of Defence and will function as its Secretary. The Cabinet also gave ex-post facto approval for official amendments to the Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019 moved and passed by the Lok Sabha on 9th of this month.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that in a historic decision for ushering in reforms in the higher defence management in the country, the Government has decided to create a post of Chief of Defence Staff, CDS and to create a Department of Military Affairs, within the Ministry of Defence. He said, the decision to create CDS is a major step towards bringing about jointmanship between the Armed Forces. He added that with this decision the Government has fulfilled the commitment given by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the ramparts of Red Fort during his Independence Day speech this year.
Briefing on the Cabinet decisions, Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal said the Cabinet approved organisational restructuring of Railway Board. He said, Railway Board will be headed by Chairman Railway Board who will be the Chief Executive Officer with 4 Members and some Independent Members. Mr Goyal said, existing eight Group A services of the Railways will be reorganised into a Central Service called Indian Railway Management Service, IRMS. He said, unification of services will end departmentalism, promote the smooth working of Railways, expedite decision making, create a coherent vision for organisation and promote rational decision making. He added that unification of services has been recommended by various committees for reforming Railways and reforms undertaken with overwhelming support and consensus of Railway officers, at a two-day conference Parivartan Sangoshthi held on 7th and 8th of this month. Mr Goyal said, it’s a huge reform to end departmentalism and working in silos in Railways.
The Cabinet today also approved Atal Bhujal Yojana, a Central Sector Scheme with total outlay of six thousand crore rupees. Briefing media after the meeting of the cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said, the scheme will be implemented over a period of 5 years in identified areas in Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. He said, implementation of the scheme is expected to benefit nearly 8350 Gram Panchayats in 78 districts in these States. He said ATAL JAL will promote panchayat led ground water management and behavioural change with a primary focus on demand-side management. Mr Javadekar said, the scheme will boost the income of farmers.
The Union Cabinet also decided to honour the contribution of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by naming the Strategic Tunnel under Rohtang Pass after him on December 25, tomorrow which is his birthday. The historic decision to construct a strategic tunnel below the Rohtang Pass was taken on 3rd June in 2000 when late Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. The foundation stone for the Access Road to the South Portal of the tunnel was laid on 26th of May 2002. Mr Javadekar said, four thousand crore rupees have been approved for the same. The 8.8-kilometre long tunnel is will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kilometres.
Cabinet also approved Promulgation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019. The Amendment will remove certain ambiguities in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and ensure smooth implementation of the Code.
The Union Cabinet has also given its approval to release funds to the tune of over 627 crore rupees for the 10 projects sanctioned during 2018-19 and additional more than 1854 crore rupees for sanctioning of new projects during 2019-20 in Swadesh Darshan Scheme. Under the Scheme, Ministry of Tourism is developing critical tourism infrastructure in the country in a sustainable and inclusive manner to make India, a world class tourist destination.
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