The Budget Session of the Jharkhand Assembly will be held from February 26 to March 23 with the state budget being tabled on March 3, the cabinet decided on Wednesday.

This will be the second budget tabled by the Hemant Soren-led coalition government in Jharkhand.

The Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod to 45 proposals from various departments. It gave its approval to Jharkhand Good Samaritan Policy under which those who help victims of road accidents reach hospital on time will not be interrogated by the law enforcement agencies and instead rewarded for their efforts, said Cabinet Secretary Ajoy Kumar Singh.

“Many people are reluctant to help victims of road accidents as they fear legal complications. This decision is intended to encourage people to help road accident victims without any fear of getting framed,” said Singh.

The Cabinet also decided to withdraw cases against at least 204 migrant labourers for violation of lockdown guidelines last year. As per government records, at least 30 such cases were lodged in various parts of the state wherein migrant labourers were named on charges of violating the lockdown norms.

As of now, there are commercial courts only in Ranchi, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur. However, in the wake of the growing number of cases, the Cabinet on Wednesday decided that civil judges and district judges in all the 24 districts will now be able to hear cases that were till now only heard at commercial courts, Singh said.

Cases involving Rs 3 lakh to Rs 1 crore will be heard by civil judges, while cases involving more than Rs 1 crore will be heard by district judges, he added.

The Cabinet also approved the signing of an MoU with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for expansion of the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi. Accordingly, 27.34 acre land will be transferred to the AAI, while 276.28 acre land will be given to the AAI on lease by the state government. A total of 303.62 acre land will be provided to AAI for expansion of the largest airport in Jharkhand, officials said.

The Cabinet also decided to give grace marks to members of displaced families for grade three jobs in the state government. The candidates who have lost less than 2 acre land will get two extra marks, while the ones who have lost more than five acre of land will get 10 extra marks in exams for grade 3 level jobs in Jharkhand, Singh said.

Besides, GAIL India Ltd will now be supplied biodegradable waste free of cost from Ranchi, which they will process and sell, the Cabinet decided. A MoU for 22 years will be inked with GAIL, under which the company will be provided 8 acre land in Jharkhand, where they will set up processing plants. These processing plants, officials said, will have a capacity of 300 metric tonne.