Latest news with #StateLevelSteeringCommittee
New Indian Express
11 hours ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Andhra: SLSC to oversee 750 e-bus proposal
VIJAYAWADA: The State government on Thursday constituted a State Level Steering Committee (SLSC) to oversee the submission of proposals to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) for procuring 750 electric buses under the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme. These e-buses, sanctioned by MoHUA, will be deployed across 11 cities in the State. As per the scheme's guidelines, each participating state must form an State Level Steering Committee headed by the Chief Secretary to review and forward proposals to the Centre for approval. Following a detailed study of the scheme and practices followed by other states like Punjab and Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh formed the committee. The State Level Steering Committee will be chaired by the Chief Secretary, with members including the Special Chief Secretary (Energy), Principal Secretaries of Transport, Roads and Buildings, Finance, and MAUD, Secretary (Industries and Commerce), and the Commissioner of the Public Transport Department. The State government finalised M/s Pinnacle Mobility Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Pune, along with discovered Gross Cost Contract (GCC) prices, as the selected agency for supplying the buses. As per the Government Order, the proposal for the e-bus procurement will be submitted to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs through the newly formed SLSC.
Hans India
3 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
Cabinet clears MahaAgri-AI Policy to put Maharashtra at the forefront in digital innovation
Mumbai: The state Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Tuesday cleared the Maharashtra Agriculture-Artificial Intelligence MahaAgri-AI Policy 2025-2029, which aims to keep the state's agriculture sector at the forefront of the digital era. 'Sustainable and scalable solutions will be implemented with the help of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative AI, Internet of Things (IoTs), Drones, Computer Vision, Robotics and Predictive Analytics. It will help in taking forward projects like Agristack, Maha-Agristack, Mahavedh, CropSap, Agmarknet, Digital Farming School, and Maha-DBT in the state. There will be a three-tier administrative structure for the implementation of this policy. A fund of Rs 500 crore will be made available for the first three years for the implementation of this policy,' said the government release. The Cabinet also decided to amend or make changes to the policy in the next five years, as the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector is changing rapidly. For this, the State Level Steering Committee, State Level Technical Committee, Artificial Intelligence and Agritech Innovation Centre, and Agricultural Artificial Intelligence Research and Innovation Centre under the Agricultural University will work. 'The policy will create a leading hub for AI and innovation in the agricultural sector in the state, will increase 'farmer-centric use' of AI technology, research, data sharing, support for start-ups, and it is expected to put Maharashtra at the forefront of digital agricultural innovation,' said the government release. According to the state agriculture department, the policy will encourage startups, private companies/technology companies, agricultural universities, research institutes, agricultural science centres, private institutions and farmers/Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to adopt "farmer-centric" use of Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies. This will involve institutionalising an Artificial Intelligence and Agritech Innovation Centre, which will act as an independent, full-time implementing mechanism for the practical implementation of this policy. This mechanism will work on various aspects under the policy, such as partnerships with national and international institutions, promotion of innovations, selection, implementation and financing of projects, coordination and capacity building. Agri-Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Incubation Centres will be set up in four agricultural universities in the state under the guidance of institutions like IITs/IISc. According to the policy, a digital public infrastructure will be set up to support data-driven agriculture and AI applications. These facilities will facilitate state-wide, secure, consistent and consent-based data exchange. A cloud-based Agriculture Data Exchange (A-DeX) and sandboxing facility will be made available, connecting all agriculture-related databases of the Central and State Governments (Agristack, Mahavedh, Maha-Agritech, CropSap, Agmarknet, Digital Shetishala and Maha-DBT) to this digital platform. Through this exchange, data on farmers, their land, crop information, local weather, and soil health will be made available for AI projects. 'An integrated engine with AI-enabled Remote Sensing and Geo-spatial Intelligence will be developed. This will help in decision making by analysing spatial information from various sources collected through satellite imagery, drone surveys, UAVs and IoT-based devices. This system will be connected to national and state platforms like MahaVedh, FASAL, and Bhuvan through API. This platform can be used by departments like Agriculture, Water Resources and Revenue and Disaster Management for various purposes,' said the government release.
Hindustan Times
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Police stations in 8 districts to house trauma support centres for women
Mumbai: The state government has approved the establishment of temporary shelters-cum-counselling centres for women in 104 police stations spread across eight districts. These centres will provide immediate psychological support, legal aid, and short-term rehabilitation to women and children facing abuse. They will be funded by the state government and operated by non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The approval was granted at the State Level Steering Committee meeting dated February 20, which was chaired by the additional chief secretary (home department). The government resolution issued subsequently named nine NGOs to run the centres – one NGO each for Palghar, Satara, Ahmednagar, Nandurbar, Buldhana, Nagpur and Amravati districts, and two NGOs for Wardha. Police stations are usually the first point of contact for women and children who face abuse, and police personnel often provide informal counselling and escort survivors to shelter homes, said a senior official from the women and child development (WCD) department, which will be the controlling authority under the scheme. 'This new model will formalise the process by establishing dedicated units within police stations, allowing for decentralised, better-equipped support facilities,' the official said. Each shelter-cum-counselling centre will be located inside a police station and be overseen by district women and child development officers and superintendents of police. They will be staffed by counsellors with master's in social work (MSW) degrees, who will help survivors file police complaints, offer trauma-informed counselling, and assist in navigating medical and legal processes. Counsellors' honorariums will be transferred by the state government directly to their bank accounts, eliminating the need for payments via NGOs. The move follows widespread criticism of the 45 One-Stop Crisis Centres (OSCs) in the state, which are located inside hospital premises and offer support to rape and molestation victims. A 2023 review by the state commission for women revealed that most OSCs lacked trained personnel, round-the-clock services, and coordination with the police. In Mumbai, only one out of every 110 rape survivors was referred to an OSC. 'We had to start holding sensitisation sessions just to get the police to refer survivors to us,' said Swati Bandose from the Jogeshwari Trauma Centre OSC. 'Often, police don't involve us at all. Locating these services within police stations is the right step forward.' The new centres could have significant impact in districts like Nandurbar and Gadchiroli, where women still face resistance while trying to file basic complaints, said Seema Deshpande, president of Bhartiya Stree Shakti, which runs the Nagpur OSC. 'Having trained counsellors within police stations could finally open doors that have remained shut for too long,' she said. Sandhya Gokhale, a senior member of the Forum Against Oppression of Women (FAOW), welcomed the development, saying the new model placed support where it was needed the most. 'It's an institutional fix that could eliminate the trauma survivors face when they are forced to run between departments after experiencing violence,' said Gokhale. 'But it will only work if the state invests in proper oversight.' HT reached out to Dr Anup Kumar Yadav, secretary, state WCD department, but he did not respond to calls and messages.
