Maha: Enhanced aid for families willingly moving out of

The Maharashtra government today decided to quadruple the compensation for the families who voluntarily move out of protected forest areas in the state.
The state Cabinet decided to raise the compensation amount by four times than the prevailing market rate with an objective to reduce the man-animal conflict and rehabilitate elsewhere the human settlements located in protected forest zones and national parks.
The cabinet has approved a fund of Rs 45 crore for the purpose, an official statement said.
In another decision, the Cabinet cleared the extension of the rate contract for the purchase of medicines in government medical colleges and affilitiated hospitals.

In July last year, the government decided to procure medicines for government hospitals from the Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Corporation.
"Considering that the tendering process will take time, it has been decided to continue with the same rate card in government colleges and hospitals where the stock of medicines has been exhausted or will be over soon," the statement said.

The Cabinet also approvaed Hinjewadi-Shivaji Nagar metro project, which will be implemented by the Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA) on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis.
The 23.3-km long metro line will cost Rs 8313 crore.
"The government will not provide the viability gap funding (VGF) of Rs 812 crore from its share and the PMRDA will have to raise the amount from commercial development of private and public land which will be allotted for the project," the statement said.

The Cabinet also approved a policy approving the use of land in cities which are lying vacant after the industrial projects located on them became non-operational.
"This move will help in availability of land for constructing affordable houses," the statement said.
Explaining the rationale behind the move, the government said many companies had accquired land from state for setting up industries before 1970.
"The land was used for the industrial purpose for some time. However, many units are shut down (over a priod of time) while a number of companies have shifted elsewhere," a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

Such land located in different parts of Maharashtra is lying unutilised which the government plans to use for affordable housing.
"The land will be developed for constructing houses for low income groups. Similarly,commercial development of these lands will help in creation of jobs," it said.