U'khand Cabinet clears proposal to set up panel on relocation of Gujjars from Corbett

The Uttarakhand Cabinet today decided to constitute a committee for relocating of Gujjar families from the Corbett Tiger Reserve and shutdown schools which have less than 10 students.

It also decided to launch a medical insurance scheme named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee providing an annual coverage of Rs 5 lakh to every family.

The proposals were cleared by the state cabinet at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, cabinet minister and spokesman of the government Madan Kaushik told reporters.

It was decided that a committee headed by the forest minister will be constituted to implement an order of the Uttarakhand High Court to relocate the Gujjar families living in the Corbett Tiger Reserve to somewhere else, Kaushik said.

The agriculture minister and the chief secretary will be the members of the panel, he added.

Kaushik said the high court will also be informed about the formation of the committee.

Nine Gujjar families are at present living in Jhirna range and 24 in Dhela range of the reserve, he said.

In another decision, the cabinet approved the closure of state-run primary and upper primary schools which have less than 10 students.

Those studying in such schools will be shifted to other schools, Kaushik said.

Out of the total 12,339 government primary schools in the state, 2,425 have less than 10 students. And out of 2,796 upper primary schools, 291 have less than 10 students, he said.

The cabinet also gave its nod to a medical insurance scheme named after Vajpayee providing an annual coverage of Rs 5 lakh to around 20 lakh families.

A budgetary provision of Rs 172 crore will be made for the scheme -- Atal Ayushman Yojana Uttarakhand (AAYU) -- which will come into force from September 25, Kaushik said.

The Cabinet also paid tributes to Vajpayee by reading an obituary proposal and observing a two-minute silence.

Vajpayee had passed away on August 16. He was 93.