The Haryana cabinet on Wednesday approved the setting up of the Haryana Mass Rapid Transport Corporation to plan and operate mass transit and other urban transport. The proposal had been part of the budget speech delivered in the state Vidhan Sabha on March 10, 2010 by the then finance minister Captain Ajay Yadav. The cabinet also approved authorised capital of Rs 100 crore for the company which would also have paid-up capital of Rs 10 crore. The equity participation of the state government would be 51 per cent, that of HUDA would be 29 per cent and that of the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation would be 20 per cent. The directors of the company would be the financial commissioners of finance, town and country planning, transport, industries, public works (Building and Roads), director general, town and country planning and would be government nominees and other directors would be the chief administrator, HUDA and managing director of HSIIDC. The chairman and managing director of the company shall be appointed by the government and he would be a senior serving or retired officer of the state not below the rank of secretary to government of Haryana. Metro from Badarpur to YMCA, Faridabad The cabinet also gave its approval to the project of extension of the Delhi Metro from Badarpur to YMCA Chowk, Faridabad at a revised cost of Rs 2,494 crore. Haryana will contribute 1,557.40 crore within a period of three years from 2011-12 to 2013-14. Of the total amount of Rs.1557.40 crore, Infrastructure Development Fund will contribute Rs 778.70 crore, Government of Haryana Rs 280.32 crore, HUDA Rs 311.48 crore and HSIIDC Rs 186.90 crore. Metro from Sikanderpur to NH-8 in Gurgaon The state cabinet approved the draft of the MoU to be signed by the Centre, the state government and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited to develop the Metro Link from Delhi Metro’s Sikanderpur station to National Highway Number 8 in Gurgaon. Ten toll plazas closed Cabinet also decided to close10 toll points where the collections were less than Rs 50 lakh per annum. They include the plazas at: Tohana-Dharsul-Ratia-Hanspur road, Jakhal-Dharsul-Bhuna-Pabra road Fatehabad-Bhattu Kalan- Bhadra road, Sirsa-Ellanabad road, Shajahanpur-Rewari road, Barwala-Agroha-Bhadra road, Sirsa-Ludesar-Bhadra road, Samalkha to Hathwala road and G T road to Bega and Murthal-Nandanpur-Basodi-Palri. Hike in Financial assistance to Kashmiri migrants The chief minister announced an increase in the financial assistance being given to the families of Kashmiri migrants displaced from state of Jammu and Kashmir and residing in Haryana to Rs 2,500 per month from Rs1,000 a month. Kalanaur upgraded to tehsil The cabinet approved the proposal of revenue and disaster management department regarding upgradation of sub tehsil Kalanaur as Tehsil in Rohtak district and creation of sub-tehsil Tigaon and sub-tehsil Mohna in Faridabad district. 560 acres transferred to HUDA Cabinet also gave its approval to the proposal of animal husbandry and dairy department for transfer of 560 acre and 19 marla land of the Government Livestock Farm, Hisar to Haryana Urban Development Authority, Hisar for extension of the residential Sector 14. Rural development fee on cotton reduced The rural development fee on cotton was reduced from two per cent to 0.8 per cent by amending Section 5 of the Haryana Rural Development Act, 1986. Naib tehsildars to be appointed by HPSC Naib Tehsildars in Haryana will now be recruited through the Haryana Public Service Commission. Earlier, the posts of Naib Tehsildars used to be filled through Haryana Staff Selection Commission. No decision on house tax No decision was taken by the cabinet regarding the imposition of the restructured house tax in the state. Chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the decision has been deferred as certain technical clarifications have been sought. Minister for Urban Local Bodies Gopal Kanda said the government was not imposing house tax to generate revenue. “It is our compulsion as it is mandatory for funding by the Centre. Only nominal house tax would be imposed as it was in the interest of the state,” he said. He added that people would benefit as the tax would be nominal and no tax is being proposed to be charged for houses below 100 square yards and only Rs 200 has been proposed for houses below 250 square yards. Currently, the state collects house tax on commercial establishments. The house tax imposed on residential buildings is being calculated according to a formula laid down in 2000-2001. Early this year, however, a restructured formula was announced to be adopted and collection according to the old formula was stopped. The new formula is yet to be implemented.