Big relief to Uttarakhand employees, now air travel will also be available in LTC

Pushkar Singh Dhami cabinet has given a big relief to about two lakh personnel of the state. LTC i.e. Leave Travel Concession facility can now be availed through air service in addition to rail service. However, the facility of travel by air will be permissible for personnel of 5400 grade pay and above. At the same time, employees working in grade pay from 1800 to 2800 will be able to enjoy air-conditioned rail travel. In this facility, the compulsion of adjustment of 15 days of earned leave has now been abolished. Instead, the use of earned leave will be valid only for five days or the actual travel period. On the other hand, the cabinet has increased the pension amount of former MLAs from Rs 40 thousand to Rs 60 thousand. Along with this, the cabinet has also agreed to increase this amount by Rs 3000 per year. At the same time, a budget of about 1.15 lakh crores has been approved for the financial year 2024-25.

In the cabinet meeting held in the Secretariat on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, important decisions were taken in the interest of employees, farmers, beekeepers, forest panchayats, entrepreneurs. Information about the decisions of the cabinet was not given due to the assembly session being convened. According to sources, the cabinet has fulfilled the long-awaited demand of the employee organizations by giving the green signal to the amendment in the LTC scheme for the employees. Till now, the government servants of the state get travel facility by train under the LTC facility in the category for which they are authorized to tour under the travel allowance rules. This journey can be done by aircraft or other means in addition to train, but only the amount of the category of permissibility of the government servant is payable in travel allowance claims. Also, to avail this facility, it is mandatory for the employee to avail a minimum of 15 days of earned leave. LTC facility is available once in every ten years of service. According to the revised system, now officers of pay level-10 or higher will get the facility of air travel according to their category. That is, personnel working in grade pay from 5400 to 10,000 will be able to avail air service in LTC. Earlier, there was a classification of permissibility of rail travel on the basis of basic pay, which has been classified on the basis of pay level of the post held in view of the Seventh Pay Commission. Employees working in pay level-one to five i.e. grade pay 1800 to 2800 will be provided the facility of air-conditioned third class rail travel, employees working in pay level-six to nine i.e. grade pay 4200 to 4800 will be provided the facility of air-conditioned second class rail travel. Similarly, the facility of air-conditioned first class rail travel will be provided from pay level-10. The requirement of availing minimum 15 earned leaves to avail travel leave facility has been approved to be abolished. Instead of this, a minimum of five days or the actual travel period, whichever is more, has been accepted as use of earned leave. Major decisions of the Cabinet

Employees working in grade pay of 1800 to 2800 will now get the benefit of air-conditioned travel in trains

Pension of former MLAs increased from 40 thousand to 60 thousand rupees, will be increased by Rs 3000 per year

Uttarakhand State Road Safety Policy approved, responsibility of departments fixed to curb accidents

Approval given to the formation of forest fire safety management committees to prevent forest fires

Approval to 10 new posts of Assistant Divisional Transport Officer (Enforcement), eye on road safety

Green signal to Adi Kailash and Om Parvat Darshan heli service in Pithoragarh under winter tourism

Approval of budget of about 1.15 lakh crore for the financial year 2025-26

State Road Safety Policy, 2025 approved

The Cabinet approved the Uttarakhand State Road Safety Policy, 2025 to curb the ever-increasing road accidents in the state. The responsibility of all important departments has been fixed in this policy. The functions of the departments of Transport, Police, Public Works, Urban Development, Forest and Health as well as Excise, Energy, Tourism, Food and Civil Supplies as well as the District Administration have been mentioned. Its target is to reduce accidents by 50 percent by the year 2030.