Haryana government has decided to hike the house rent allowance (HRA) for ministers from Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000, along with an additional amount of Rs 20,000 to cover power and water charges. The decision, which was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday, takes the total HRA to Rs 1 lakh per month. The Cabinet decided to bring an amendment in Rule 10-AA of the Haryana Ministers’ Allowances Rules for allowing the HRA hike. The rule will now be termed Haryana Ministers’ Allowances (Amendment) Rules. All allowances to ministers except the HRA were revised by the government on or after April 1, 2016. However, the HRA was last revised on June 2, 2011. The Cabinet has also taken an in-principle decision to bring an amendment in section 31 of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, allowing devolution of powers to Gram Sabha to ban liquor within the local area of a Gram Panchayat. Khattar had on Monday said that apart from the government, de-addiction centres were also being run by the private sector and that necessary infrastructure and staff facilities were being provided to these centres. He said that a State Task Force has already been constituted to crack a whip on drug peddlers and now a Task Force will also be formed at the district level with an aim to completely ban the supply of drugs. Speaking on the stubble burning issue, the Chief Minister had said that five industries of Haryana purchase stubble for energy production or other purposes and a major ethanol industry is being set up in Panipat by the Indian Oil Corporation.
