Bhubaneswar, June 16: The Odisha cabinet today approved the merger of Bhubaneswar Urban Cooperative Bank (BUCB) with the Pune-based Cosmos Cooperative Bank Limited. Following the merger, around 13,000 depositors will get back their money from BUCB.
The bank’s current losses are pegged at Rs 16 crore or so.
Chief secretary Bijay Patnaik said: “All the 13,000 depositors will get back their deposit money with interest value. However, the government will waive off the Rs 6 crore given to the bank in 2007.” Cosmos will keep 32 employees and the rest will be retrenched.
The cabinet also empowered the Odisha Gram Panchayat to impose property tax today. “We have brought amendments to the Odisha Panchayat Act-1964. If we don’t implement it, the state will lose nearly Rs 950 crore as grant from the 13th financial corporation,” Patnaik said.
The cabinet also gave its nod to Odisha Rights to Public Service Bill-2012, under which officials have to provide public services within in a stipulated time frame, failing which they have to pay a Rs 500 fine.
“Besides, they will pay an extra fine of Rs 250 per day for the period of the delay. This money will be deducted from their salary,” Patnaik said.
The cabinet has also brought reforms in the examination to the Odisha Judicial Services. Negative marking system will be introduced in the preliminary exam. Henceforth, physical fitness norms will be relaxed for women appearing for live stock inspectors’ exam.
The government has also reduced value added tax (VAT) on sanitary napkins, bringing it down from 13 per cent to 5 per cent. “However, no VAT would be imposed on the ‘Free Days’ napkins provided by the National Rural Health Mission,” said the chief secretary.
Also, a new methodology will be introduced for the survey of lands through sophisticated techniques under the Odisha Special Survey and Settlement Ordinance-2012, the cabinet decided.
In another decision, farmers will get more compensation if their crops are damaged by animals. For loss of paddy per acre, they will get Rs 10,000 instead of Rs 5,000 and Rs 12,000 for an acre of cash crop.
