Moved by the Nurpur school bus accident, which killed 24 children and four others, the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet on Monday gave in-principle approval to transportation guidelines for school buses to ensure safety of the school children.

The guidelines came in the wake of bus accident in Nurpur sub-division of Kangra district wherein 24 children were killed. A government spokesperson said the decision to approve the guidelines for school buses was taken in Cabinet meeting on Monday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

“The Transport department would send letter to all the principals of all the private schools on behalf the Chief Minister, informing them about the school transportation safety guidelines,” he said.

Besides this, approval was accorded for formation of Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam Limited (SJPNL) for water supply and wastewater management in Greater Shimla Planning Area and other places, he said.

In addition, SJPNL would take care of raw water off-take treatment and distribution of potable water and recycled non-potable water, wastewater collection, treatment, reuse, recycling and disposal.

The project cost is estimated at Rs 770 Crore and it will be implemented with financial assistance from the World Bank, the spokesperson said.

The spokesman said the Cabinet decided to create and fill up various posts in Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for Smart City Mission in Shimla and Dharamshala to execute works worth Rs 2,906 Crore and Rs 2,105 Crore for Shimla and Dharamshala respectively.

For Shimla Smart City project, 24 posts would be filled on secondment basis and 26 posts of different categories would be filled up on outsource basis. Similar number of posts would also be filled for Dharamshala Smart City on Secondment and outsource basis.

The spokesman sad the Cabinet okayed to provide honorarium of Rs 21,500 per month, three percent annual increment, 12 days casual leave and 10 days medical leave along with framing of transfer policy for the Gram Vidya Upasak (EGS) working in elementary education department on the analogy of Primary Assistant Teachers.

It also decided to give Rs. 21,500 honorarium per month and three percent annual increment to the left out Gramin Vidya Upasaks on the analogy of Primary Assistant Teachers.