SHIMONA SHARMA
The North News
Chandigarh, March 12
The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet has approved the state’s excise policy for the 2025-26 financial year, opting for an auction-cum-tender process for liquor vends. The decision was made in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
In a key welfare measure, the Cabinet raised the annual income limit for below-poverty-line (BPL) families to ₹50,000. It also revised guidelines for the District Mineral Foundation Trust, allowing funds to be used for law and order maintenance, welfare of widows and orphans, and education and skill development, based on recommendations from deputy commissioners.
Chief Minister Sukhu also reiterated efforts to recover ₹10,000 crore deposited under the new pension scheme (NPS) with the central government, following the state’s restoration of the old pension scheme (OPS).
Tags
Himachal Pradesh, excise policy, liquor vends, BPL income, pension scheme, OPS, NPS, law and order, welfare, education
