Cabinet gives its nod for completing takeover of metro rail phase one before March 31

The state government has decided to completely take over the operation and maintenance of the first phase of Hyderabad Metro Rail, which currently covers 69 km.

The government has set March 31 as the deadline for completing the process in this direction. The State Cabinet, which met here on Monday, discussed the issue during its marathon session and decided to discuss the issue in the budget session of the Legislative Assembly, which begins on March 16. Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy said, “Opposition parties may submit their suggestions on takeover as well as steps to be taken to proceed with the second and third phases of the metro rail.”

The State has decided to undertake the second and third phases in collaboration with the Central Government and the Central Government has appointed the managing director of UP Metro Rail Corporation as a member of the high-level committee constituted to recommend the way forward in completing the acquisition.

Health insurance for government employees

The cabinet has approved a unique health and insurance coverage scheme for its over 7.56 lakh staff, including contract and outsourced employees. Employees will be provided with free treatment and other services at 652 empaneled private hospitals in different parts of the state. It was decided to give compensation of ₹ 1.25 crore to employees who met with accidental death, while it was decided to give compensation of ₹ 10 lakh to employees in harness who met with untimely death before retirement.

For this purpose, it was decided to deduct 1.5 percent from the basic salary of employees and the state to contribute at this rate. “1.5% of the basic cut comes to ₹ 528 crore and the government’s equal share will take the corpus to ₹ 1,056 crore,” the minister said. It was stated that the amount in question will be deposited in a foundation that will be established soon to provide cashless treatment to employees.

Secondary Health Directorate

The cabinet also decided to establish a new secondary health directorate, which will be given the responsibility of installing the latest equipment in government hospitals from village level to district level, besides recommending measures to improve facilities. This was in addition to the formation of a high-powered committee headed by Health Minister C. Damodar Narasimha and comprising experts such as Nori Dattatreyudu and Srinath Reddy to recommend concrete measures to provide effective treatment, including chronic diseases, to the common man.

The Cabinet also approved the renovation of pipelines and treatment plants supplying water from Manjira and Osmansagar as they were dilapidated. Of the 42 acres of defense land required for the expansion of the Hyderabad Karimnagar highway, it was decided to transfer 153 acres of land to the Ministry of Defense instead of 43 acres. The cabinet approved the establishment of a fruit market of international standards at Koheda on the outskirts of the city and approved the transfer of more than 200 acres of land for this purpose. To take the plan forward, the land held by the government will be transferred to TGIIC.