The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a slew of proposals including the conducting of Census of India 2021 at a cost of around ₹13,000 crore; promulgate an Ordinance for amendment to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016; organisational restructuring of the Indian Railways; and appointment of Chief of Defence Staff.
The Cabinet approved the Census of India 2021 at around ₹13,000 crore, of which ₹3,941.35 crore is earmarked for the updation of National Population Register (NPR).
The data for NPR was collected in 2010 along with the house-listing phase of Census of India 2011. It was updated in 2015 by conducting door-to-door survey. The digitisation of the updated information has been completed. For the upcoming Census that starts from April, no document or biometric identification will be required; it will be done through a mobile app, said an official statement.
“Use of mobile app for data collection and the Central portal for monitoring purpose will ensure early release of Census data with improved quality. Data dissemination will be much better and in a user-friendly way so that all the queries on required parameters for policy making will be made available on the click of a button,” it said.
IBC amendment
The Cabinet also approved a proposal to promulgate an Ordinance and amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The Amendment will remove certain ambiguities in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and ensure its smooth implementation.
With the changes, the liability of a corporate debtor for an offence committed prior to the commencement of the insolvency resolution process will cease, and the debtor will not be prosecuted for such an offence from the date the resolution plan has been approved by the Adjudicating Authority.
Railways revamp
In another decision, the Cabinet approved the organisational restructuring of the Railways.
The decision leads to unification of the existing eight Group A services of the Railways into a Central Service called Indian Railway Management Service (RMS); re-organisation of the Railway Board on functional lines, headed by CRB with four Members and some Independent Members; and the existing Indian Railway Medical Service to be renamed Indian Railway Health Service (IRHS).
Railways has an ambitious programme to modernise and provide the highest standards of safety, speed and services to the passengers with a proposed investment of ₹50-lakh crore over the next 12 years.
“This requires speed and scale, and a unified, agile organisation to work single-mindedly on this task and capable of responding to challenges,” an official statement said.
Further, the Cabinet has also given its nod for creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff in the rank of a four-star General with salary and perquisites equivalent to a Service Chief.
The Chief of Defence Staff will also head the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), to be created within the Ministry of Defence and function as its Secretary. Some of the areas will be dealt by the DMA headed by CDS include the Armed Forces of the Union, namely, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, integrated headquarters of the Ministry of Defence comprising Army Headquarters, Naval Headquarters, Air Headquarters and Defence Staff Headquarters.