Gujarat Government’s weekly cabinet announcements

~ The 18th series of the Shala Praveshotsav in Gujarat, initiated in 2003 by then-CM Narendra Modi, will take place from June 12th to 14th, 2023. The festival aims to increase enrollment in primary education. The Chief Minister, Bhupendrabhai Patel, along with Cabinet members, MPs, MLAs, and other officials, will inaugurate the statewide event. The festival will admit children entering school, including those in Balwatika (pre-primary), Anganwadi, and Class 1. The government has decided to start Balwatika in every government primary school from June 2023 to implement the National Education Policy 2020.

~ The spokesperson for the Minister announced that 60% of the construction work for AIIMS Rajkot in Gujarat is complete. The first AIIMS in the state will be fully constructed by October 2023, providing a significant boost to the country’s healthcare services. The institute includes specialised departments, a medical and nursing college, hostels, and other facilities. Since December 2021, over 50,000 citizens have benefited from OPD services and more than 45,000 from telemedicine services provided by the 14 specialist departments. This is one of the 14 new AIIMS approved under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expanding from the initial 8 that were functioning before 2014.

~ Spokesperson Minister Mr. Rishikeshbhai Patel announced that the government has cancelled the admission of 621 children in 10 districts who were wrongly admitted by manipulating online forms under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. It was discovered that some parents manipulated the online application by altering their child’s name and address to secure RTE admission. Instructions were issued at the state level to verify the details of children who received such admissions in the Child Tracking System operated by the SSA. Admissions found to be fraudulent are cancelled at the district level. Consequently, a total of 621 children have had their admissions cancelled, including 33 in Bharuch district, 25 in Chhota Udepur, 24 in Gir Somnath, 159 in Jamnagar city, 92 in Kheda, 161 in Rajkot, 10 in Sabarkantha, 14 in Valsad, 33 in Surat, and 70 in Surendranagar district.

~ The Gujarat government has made a significant decision regarding organ transplantation. Out of every five cadavers received from private retrieval centres, every second cadaver (all organs) will be allocated to government hospitals on a priority basis. This decision aims to balance organ transplantation between government and private hospitals. Furthermore, the requirement for a domicile certificate has been eliminated for organ transplantation registration, making it free and open to all.

~ In a recent meeting of the State Council of Ministers held in Gandhinagar, the focus was on guaranteeing a sufficient water supply to every citizen, informed state spokesperson minister Rishikeshbhai Patel. The minister informed us that adequate arrangements have been made to reserve a sufficient quantity of drinking water in all the reservoirs connected to the 72 reservoirs in the state. Additionally, 325 new tube wells and 432 mini schemes have been constructed in 13 districts to further enhance water distribution.

~ A decision is made to prepare a new 10-year recruitment calendar for various departments of the state government. The previous recruitment calendar, which was published in 2014, was completed in December 2023. Therefore, in principle, approval has been given to prepare a new recruitment calendar for the period of 2024–2033 to fill the posts in administrative departments. Phased meetings will be organised with officials from the General Administration Department, Finance Department, and Expenditure Department to create the new calendar. These meetings will take place between June and August, and the new recruitment calendar will be published accordingly. It’s worth noting that the state government initially planned to fill 156,417 posts between 2014 and 2023, but currently, 167,255 posts have been filled through direct recruitment.

~ The state-level celebration of World Environment Day in Gujarat will take place in Ambaji with the theme ‘One Kavach.’ The event will include the planting of 10,000 trees and a special programme on seed sowing using drones. Mangrove plantations under the MISTHI programme will also take place in 11 districts, and a campaign to plant trees will be conducted in eight holy pilgrimage sites. Special programmes and a dolphin show are planned in various schools and locations across the state. The celebration will involve the participation of Members of Parliament, MLAs, local dignitaries, NGOs, and volunteers, including fishermen. DeshGujarat