Many important decisions were taken in the cabinet meeting held today in the Chief Minister’s residence office under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai.

Date – 12 March 2025: Many important decisions were taken in the Cabinet meeting held today at the Chief Minister’s residence office under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai –  The Council of Ministers, taking concrete initiative to resolve the Naxal problem in the state, has approved the Chhattisgarh Naxalite Surrender/Victim Relief and Rehabilitation Policy-2025 in place of Chhattisgarh Naxalism Eradication Policy-2023. Under this policy, surrendered Maoists will be given facilities like financial assistance, rehabilitation, education, employment and security.  The draft of Chhattisgarh State Industrial Security Force Bill-2025 was approved by the Assembly  The draft of Chhattisgarh Cooperative Society (Amendment) Bill-2025 was approved.  The draft of Chhattisgarh Private University (Establishment and Operation) (Amendment) Bill-2025 was approved.  On February 27, the Chief Minister had announced to make the film “Chhava” tax free in the state.  The Council of Ministers approved the reimbursement of the equivalent amount of State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) payable for entry to the screening of the film Chhava in compliance with the announcement of the Chief Minister.  The Council of Ministers decided to set up State Water Information Centre (SWIC) for better management of water resources in the State and preparation of scientific planning. For this, consent was given to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India.

The State Water Information Centre will collect, analyse and store various information related to water resources including rainfall, river and reservoir levels, groundwater quality, silt, water flow in canals, crop coverage, aquifer mapping, land and soil data. SWIC will provide authentic data for water resources management with the help of digital platform developed by NWIC. This will strengthen policy making, strategic decisions, modelling, development of analytical tools and water management.  The Council of Ministers decided to obtain loan approval of Rs 522.22 crore through the Government of India for the improvement works of 09 dams of the Water Resources Department of the state. These include Maniyari Tank, Ghongha Tank, Dudhawa, Kinkari, Sondhur, Murumsilli (Part-2), Ravishankar Sagar Project (Part-2), News Rudri Barrage and Pendravan Tank.

 The Council of Ministers has decided to start the Chief Minister Good Governance Fellowship Scheme to ensure the participation of youth in strengthening good governance and policy implementation in the state. This scheme will be run by the Department of Good Governance and Convergence in collaboration with IIM Raipur and Transforming Rural India Foundation New Delhi. This scheme will be for the youth native to Chhattisgarh. The fellows who successfully complete this program will be awarded MBA degree by IIM Raipur. Initially, the selected Fellow will be required to attend academic sessions at IIM Raipur for a period of two years and during the remaining period, he will be required to support the district/department by working for the state’s schemes and programmes in the district/department. The expenses incurred in this program will be borne by the state government and the Fellow will also be provided a monthly stipend.  Taking seriously the complaint received about corruption in the implementation of Bharat Mala Project in Chhattisgarh, the Council of Ministers has decided to get it investigated through the EOW.