Overview
- The cabinet approved the Ranjitgarh Development Authority (RDA) Bill to set up a statutory authority charged with planned, sustainable and eco‑tourism development around Ranjit Sagar Dam and Shahpur Kandi Dam.
- The RDA will sit under the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and hold administrative, financial and regulatory powers for integrated development, land management and project implementation.
- Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will chair the authority, the state tourism minister will serve as vice‑chair, and an executive committee led by the chief secretary will run day‑to‑day coordination.
- In the same meeting the cabinet created driver posts in the Chief Electoral Officer’s office by surrendering certain peon and one Moharrir post, amended rules to allow promotion of MSc (Nursing) staff nurses to tutor posts at Patiala and Amritsar nursing colleges with preference for one year teaching experience, and agreed to regularise non‑teaching contractual staff under PICTES into prescribed pay scales.
- The bill establishes the authority on paper and hands centralised oversight to the tourism department, so next steps to watch are formal enactment, staffing and how land‑use and local communities are engaged during project rollout.