BHUBANESWAR: The state cabinet on Wednesday approved the amendment to the Wildlife Protection (Odisha) Rules, 1974 for enhancement of compassionate payment to the legal heir of the victims killed by wild animals As per amended rules, compensation for the family members of people killed in wild animal attack has been increased from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4 lakh.Financial assistance would also be given for death of sheep, goat and lamb caused by wild animals. Accordingly, Rs 2000 would be given for death of sheep and goat and Rs 750 for death of lamb due to wild animal attack, chief secretary A P Padhi told reporters after the meeting.Though the chief minister earlier announced it on October 7, the cabinet formally approved it. The cabinet also approved inclusion of jackal and hyena in the list of 'wild animals' category. The announcement has brought relief to the Niali villagers who suffered huge losses as around 300 goats were recently killed by wolf. The villagers since then had been demanding compensation.The cabinet also approved revision of the project cost from Rs 2600 crore to Rs 3843 crore for construction of 473 numbers of 33/11 kv substations. "The revised cost has been approved as there were certain changes in design to develop a robust cyclone/flood resilient transmission system in Odisha ," said Padhi.To ensure systematic improvement in higher educational institutions, cabinet approved that over 140 colleges and 11 universities will be given a fund of Rs 1071 crore, to be funded by the World Bank.Government of India and the state government had signed a MoU with the World Bank on November 7 to avail a loan of US$ 119 million for the Odisha Higher Education Programme for Excellence & Equity (OHEPEE).While higher education institutions can spend 60 per cent of fund for civil works and procuring equipment, rest of the amount would be spent for curriculum development and skill development.Cabinet also approved to levy 5 per cent tax on ethyl alcohol and other spirit used for production of alcoholic liquor for human consumption under Odisha VAT Act. The tax rate on sale of natural gas in piped natural gas format for domestic and industrial use has been reduced from 15 to 5 per cent.

Stay updated with all the Latest Bhubaneswar headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.