Good news for sportspersons.
The cabinet on Tuesday sanctioned Rs 81.60 crore for the expansion of Patliputra Sports Complex at Kankerbagh. The sanctioned amount will be used for construction of pending as well as new works at the stadium.
Cabinet department secretary Brajesh Mehrotra told reporters in a post-cabinet briefing: “The amount would be used for laying athletic track at the outdoor stadium, laying of synthetic tracks in the indoor stadium, construction of parking lots, electrification and light arrangements at both the indoor and the outdoor stadia, installation of fire-fighting equipment and others.”
Chief minister Nitish Kumar had inaugurated the sports Complex on March 1, 2012. It hosted the Women’s World Cup Kabaddi Championship last year.
In another decision, the cabinet sanctioned Rs 27.31 crore for the beautification of the campus of Karbighaiya thermal power plant, which has been closed for more than a decade and is adjacent to Chanakya National Law University. The fund will be used to develop parks, lift installation in the chimney, dysfunctional for years, and other works.
The cabinet also okayed the construction of 10.5km-long road from Patna All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Rs 1185.10 crore and the Patna-Digha rail-cum-roadbridge. Renovation of old power grids, power sub-stations, electricity department offices and construction of new offices were approved. For the pending IT implementation works under the restructured accelerated power development and reforms programme, the cabinet okayed Rs 35.04 crore.
Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), the cabinet approved the increase of minimum wages of MNREGA workers. Mehrotra said: “Minimum wages for MNREGA workers has been hiked from Rs 144 per day to Rs 162 per day in the state.”
The nod to wage hike assumes importance as Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh recently admitted to the slow pace of MNREGS implementation in Bihar and Jharkhand and blamed “incompetency” of the governments for this.
