New Delhi: The Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday announced a hike in Risk and Hardship allownce for NDRF personnel at the rate of 40 per cent. Addressing the NDRF flag in ceremony of second Mountaineering Expeditoin 'Vijay', Amit Shah said, "I want to give you a good news. For a long time, there was a demand for increasing the Risk and Hardship Allowance for the NDRF personnel. Just yesterday, the Government of India approved it and the Risk and Hardship Allowance will be given to you at the rate of 40 per cent and this is a matter of joy for all these 16,000 NDRF rescue personnel."
"We have also decided that a team of our CAPF will participate in the international competition in all the national and international outdoor and indoor games. The road map has been prepared and in a short time we will take it forward...," the Home Minister said. The NDRF stands for National Disaster Relief Force.
The Home Minister is likely to address a party meeting in Pune on July 14 ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, the party's state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters, he said, "Nearly 4,500 party functionaries will attend a meeting of the BJP in Pune. We have requested Amit Shah to address the meeting and he has agreed to come to Pune. The meeting will be crucial ahead of Maharashtra assembly elections." The assembly elections are likely to be held in October this year.
When asked about the Maharashtra legislative council polls scheduled next month, Bawankule said, "The names will be finalised either today or tomorrow.
I am sure that our central parliamentary board will finalise some good names that will be beneficial for the state."
"The BJP would like to have the chairperson post of the state legislative council, but we will discuss it with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and other 11 parties that form the NDA," Bawankule said.
The voting, if necessary, will take place on July 12 for the 11 MLC seats.
The biennial elections to the 11 seats from the MLA quota will be a crucial test for the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ahead of the assembly elections to be held later this year.
With inputs from PTI
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