HYDERABAD: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has directed the AYUSH department to prepare proposals for promoting medicinal plant cultivation under the Employment Guarantee Scheme and to encourage large-scale cultivation of medicinal plants in villages.
On Monday, the deputy chief minister held review meetings with officials of the Medical and Health and the Endowments departments at the Secretariat. Earlier, he conducted a pre-budget meeting with officials of the SC and ST welfare departments.
During the meetings, he instructed welfare department officials to complete within three months the hostel buildings that have already achieved 80% completion so they can be used in the upcoming academic year.
He also directed officials to appoint a senior officer to ensure that hostel repair bills are submitted to the Finance department every 15 days so they can be cleared without delay.
Repair works in welfare hostels must be completed during the summer, he said, warning that negligence would not be tolerated.
Officials were also asked to submit bills on time for hostel rents, electricity charges, cosmetic charges and salaries of outsourcing staff, as the government is committed to paying these expenses every month.
The deputy chief minister said that during the previous government such bills were cleared only once in seven months. He also directed officials to establish a mechanism to monitor the quality of materials supplied to welfare hostels and to conduct regular reviews.