Orissa Cabinet raises strength of Maritime Board

Relaxes entry age for Orissa Superior Judicial Service.

The State Cabinet on Thursday approved the raising of strength of the Orissa Maritime Board from 12 to 15 members. Among the additional members, the board would have one representative each from the Union ministry of defence, Union ministry of shipping and the state department of fisheries and animal resources.

Addressing the media after the Cabinet meeting, Chief Secretary, B K Patnaik said, “We have accepted some of the provisions of the Government of India and have accordingly raised the membership of the Orissa Maritime Board from 12 to 15. Consequently, the quorum for the board will go up from four to eight.

 

The penalty for violation of rules and provisions of the Orissa Maritime Board has been fixed at Rs 5000.”

The Cabinet had decided to form a maritime board during its meeting in June 11 this year to oversee the management and operations of all the existing as well as upcoming minor ports in the state.

The board will be headed by the state minister for commerce and transport.

The secretary, commerce and transport department will be the chief executive officer of the board with the secretaries of industries, water resources, law and forest and environment departments as the members.

Besides, the board will have two experts in the field of shipping, navigation and fisheries as its members.

Orissa will be the fourth state after Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to have a maritime board.The Directorate of Ports will be merged with the maritime board.

The onus will be on the maritime board to formulate a policy for development of ports and inland waterways in the state.

The board will act as the single window facilitator for the upcoming ports and will also look into security and defence issues. Moreover, the board will also carry out the necessary surveys and techno-economic feasibility studies for the upcoming ports.

Besides, the board, which will be an autonomous body, will also fix the rate for transshipment and stevedoring.

The formation of the maritime board assumes significance as the state has received many proposals for establishment of ports in locations like Kirtania, Chudamani, Dhamara, Bichitrapur and Barunei Muhan to name a few.

Out of all the port projects on the pipeline, the Dhamara port would be the first to resume operations.

It has been estimated that the maritime board would earn revenue of Rs 15 per tonne of cargo handled by this port.

The Cabinet also relaxed the entry age for the Orissa Superior Judicial Service by two years.

The minimum age has been raised from 21 to 23 years.

Similarly, the maximum age for entry has also been raised from 32 to 35 years.

It has also been decided that the vacancies up to 65 per cent under this service would be filled up by way of promotion. Previously, 50 per cent of the vacancies were filled up through promotion.

The Cabinet has also made computer literacy mandatory for recruitment of non-judicial staff in the district and subordinate courts of the state.