SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet in its meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, on Monday decided to recommend to the Governor to convene the budget session of the Vidhan Sabha from February 23 to March 15.
The session will have a total of 16 sittings. The budget for the financial year 2022-23 will be presented on March 4.
The Cabinet decided that all summer closing educational institutions from Class 9 to 12 would open from February 3, besides all other higher educational institutions.
It also decided that all the coaching institutions and libraries would also open from February 3. All government offices would open, as usual for six days in a week with 100 per cent capacity. However, physically challenged and pregnant women would continue to work from home. It was also decided that all the gyms and clubs would be opened.
It was decided that all social gatherings would be allowed with maximum 500 outdoor and 250 indoor with 50 per cent of the capacity, subject to adherence of the Covid-19 safety protocols and appropriate behaviour.
Night curfew would remain in force as usual from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and shops will open and close on normal times but 'langars' would remain suspended till further orders.
The Cabinet gave its nod to the Himachal Pradesh Integrated Drug Prevention Policy to curb drug menace. It aims at curbing the grievous problem of drug trafficking, substance abuse, drug cultivation, production and consumption prevalent in the state. It also aims at strengthening inter-governmental and inter-agency coordination under multilateral cooperation mechanism by sharing seizure statistics and data, joint drug law enforcement operations and establishment of joint interrogation centre.