Cabinet decisions for discoms, sugarcane farmers, job seekers: All you need to know – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved major decisions to provide liquidity to power sector, ease recruitment process for central government jobs and increased the fair and remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane to protect the interest of the farmers, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Briefing the media about the decisions taken, information and broadcast minister Prakash Javadekar said that the revolutionary announcements will provide a boost to employment in the country and spur growth.
Here are the key decisions taken by the Cabinet:
* Creation of National Recruitment Agency
Initiating a ‘landmark reform’ in recruitment process, the Union Cabinet approved the creation of National Recruitment Agency (NRA) for conducting a common eligibility test for central government jobs. This will allow job-seekers take one common test and save cost and time spent on writing multiple exams.
Javadekar said that the NRA will lead to ease of selection, ease of job placement and ease of living, especially for those sections of society that are considered disadvantaged. It will also help the poor and women who have to travel long distances for taking exams for various jobs, he said.

It is envisioned that the NRA would be a specialist body bringing the state-of-the-art technology and best practices in the field of Central government recruitment, an official statement said. For now, the scores of the common test will be used by three major recruitment agencies, but other agencies would be included over a period of time.
* One-time relaxation in working capital limit norm for discoms
A one-time relaxation in working capital limit norm for discoms under the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) to get loans as part of the Rs 90,000 crore liquidity infusion scheme has been approved by the government. One-time relaxation will help in providing liquidity to the power sector and ensure payments by discoms.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said: “Power sector has a problem. There is a slump in power consumption. The bills are not being collected by them. PFC and REC have been allowed to give loans above the limit…(of) more than 25 per cent working capital limit. This will increase liquidity of the state discoms.”
“The working capital limit is 25 per cent of last year’s revenue. Now, the limit is relaxed,” he added.
* Proposal for leasing out Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports
Government also approved the proposal for leasing out airports at Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram through public-private partnership (PPP).
In 2018, Adani Group had emerged as the highest bidder for six Airports Authority of India-run airports for operating them in public-private partnership format for 50 years like the ones in Delhi and Mumbai. This February following a Cabinet nod, the Adani Group had signed agreements for operating Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru airports with AAI.
Now, with the Cabinet nod coming for the remaining three — Jaipur, Trivandrum and Guwahati, — their PPP process will also go forward. The Adani Group has deferred taking over the airports it got through bidding process till later this year for some time due to the pandemic’s impact on the overall economy.

In a tweet, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, “In a momentous decision under the visionary leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, the Union Cabinet has given its stamp of approval for leasing of 3 more airports at Jaipur, Guwahati & Thiruvananthapuram on PPP basis.”
“PPP at these airports will not only help in delivery of efficient and quality services to the air passengers but will also help @AAI_Official in enhancing its revenues & focusing on developing more airports at Tier-II & Tier III places,” he added.

* Increase in fair and remunerative price of sugarcane
The minimum price sugar mills pay to sugarcane growers has been increased by Rs 10 to Rs 285 per quintal for the next marketing year starting October 2020, government notified after the Cabinet meeting.

“The Union Cabinet has approved fair and remunerative price (FRP) of sugarcane payable by sugar mills for the season 2020-21 (October-September) based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP),” an official release said.
FRP is the minimum price that sugar mills have to pay to sugarcane farmers. The price has been fixed on the basis of a recovery rate of 10 per cent, while the farmers will get additional money at the rate of Rs 2.85 per quintal, if the recovery rate is 0.1 per cent above 10 per cent. However, the FRP would be reduced by Rs 2.85 for every 0.1 per cent reduction in recovery below 10 per cent but only up tp 9.5 per cent.
Similarly, for sugar mills with recovery rate 9.5 per cent or below, government has fixed FRP payable to such farmers at Rs 270.75 per quintal.
Information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said that the decision will benefit 1 crore sugarcane growers
The FRP is determined under Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 and will be uniformly applicable to the entire country.
(With agency inputs)