Ahead of the Meghalaya statehood Golden Jubilee celebration, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma announced several state cabinet decisions in a series of tweets on Wednesday.
Sangma said in a tweet that the state Cabinet has approved a proposal to increase the upper age limit of candidates applying for government jobs by five years.
“In a historic move, Cabinet has decided to relax the upper age limit for candidates applying for Govt. services by 5 years. This will however not be applicable for certain Departments like Police which require physical fitness as a criteria,” Sangma said in a Twitter post.
Currently, the upper age limit for job applicants in the general category is is 27 years and 32 years for those belonging to Scheduled Tribes.
Following the announcement by the chief minister, the maximum age limit for government job applicants in general category has been increased to 32 years, while for those in ST category, the maximum age limit is now 37 years.
The Meghalaya Cabinet move to increase the upper age limit comes ahead of the Meghalaya statehood Golden Jubilee celebration on January 21.
The state cabinet also approved the policy for Village Health Councils (VHCs).
"To focus on the health sector at the village level, Cabinet today approved the policy for Village Health Councils (VHCs). The VHCs aim to improve community engagement in order to achieve the goals of the State Health Policy passed in 2021," the chief minister said in another Twitter post.
The chief minister also said that Cabinet has approved the recommendations of all 3 Regional Committees as process to resolve the Meghalaya-Assam border issue. The recommendations of both States will be submitted to MHA, he said.
"Cabinet has approved the recommendations of all 3 Regional Committees as process to resolve the Meghalaya-Assam border issue. The recommendations of both States will be submitted to MHA. Along with HCM @himantabiswa we will meet with Hon’ble HM@AmitShah ji for further action," he tweeted.
The Meghalaya Cabinet also approved the adoption of the National Highways Act for land acquisition and construction of national highways in the state.
Sangma said the decision was taken based on the request of the Central government. He said that the National Highway Act will be applicable only for national highway projects while for other projects, the normal land acquisition will be applicable.
Sangma further asserted that with the approval of the land acquisition to be done under the National Highway Act, it reduces the time for land acquisition from three years down to one year.
"It is a huge advantage and obviously will ensure the projects are completed much faster," he added.
(With inputs from Newmai News Network/Shillong)
