Chhattisgarh cabinet nod for draft bill to set up authority for state capital region development

Raipur, Jul 11 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh cabinet on Friday approved the draft bill for establishment of an authority for the development of the Chhattisgarh Capital Region on the lines of the National Capital Region (NCR), Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao said.

The state government also decided to set up a joint venture firm in with collaboration Pan IIT Alumni Reach For India Foundation (PARFI) for the institutional development of tribal groups, poor youth, women and third gender people from other deprived sections in the state, he said.

"The cabinet approved the draft bill for the establishment of the relevant authority for the development of the Chhattisgarh Capital Region (State Capital Region) on the lines of the National Capital Region," Sao said.

In view of the rapidly increasing population and urbanisation in Raipur, Durg-Bhilai and Naya Raipur Atal Nagar, this authority will work for the systematic and planned development of this area. This authority will work to plan for the capital region, promote investment, coordinate between various government and private organisations and properly control the expansion of the city, he said.

"By 2031, about 50 lakh people are expected to live in this area, so it is important to ensure urban development while effectively using the land and protecting the environment. In this way, the Capital Region Development Authority will help in making the urban areas of Chhattisgarh better, sustainable and well-organised," he added.

According to Sao, the formation of a non-profit joint venture company between the Chhattisgarh government and Pan IIT foundation was approved by the cabinet during its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai at Mantralaya Mahanadi Bhawan here.

Through this joint venture company, scheduled tribes and poor youth, women and third gender people of other deprived communities will be empowered through institutional vocational education, skill development and rural entrepreneurship, he said.

The firm will also work for the livelihood and socio-economic change by converging the unused funds of Tribal Sub-Plan, Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan etc. for the development of deprived communities, he said.

The work of training the trainers of skill development programmes will be done by Pan IIT foundation. The work of teaching foreign languages along with the necessary skills will be done to provide employment opportunities in the international market to the trained youth, he said.

For imparting training by Pan IIT, the district administration and departments will identify the required government buildings and hand them over to the joint venture company, he said.

Pan IIT foundation was founded by IIT alumni, which works to improve the income of underprivileged communities through nation building missions, vocational training, livelihood education and rural entrepreneurship by forming non-profit joint ventures with state governments, he said.

The cabinet also gave a nod to implement the Student Start-up and Innovation Policy to empower the youth of the state through startups and innovation, he said.

The objective of the policy is to create a student-centric innovation and incubation system, as well as increase intellectual property awareness.

Setting up innovation centres in tribal areas and giving special attention to sectors like agriculture, green energy, health and manufacturing are also the major objectives of this policy, Sao said.

The aim of the policy is to reach out to 50,000 students of 100 technical institutions in the state, support 500 prototypes, file 500 intellectual property rights and incubate 150 startups. This will help the youth to develop new thinking and technology, he added.

In another decision, the cabinet approved the draft of the amendment bill in the Chhattisgarh Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1991, to prevent road accidents caused by old vehicles and to control air pollution, he said. PTI TKP NP