During the ‘Krushik-2025’ exhibition held in Baramati in January, Ajit Pawar had announced the establishment of new veterinary colleges in Baramati (Pune) and Parli (Beed). (Representational Image)The state Cabinet on Tuesday approved the establishment of two new veterinary colleges in Pune and Beed districts, of which NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is a guardian minister.During the ‘Krushik-2025’ exhibition held in Baramati in January, Pawar had announced the establishment of new veterinary colleges in Baramati (Pune) and Parli (Beed). The decision was taken within a month after all necessary procedures were completed and the proposals approved.A total of Rs 1129.16 crore has been sanctioned for the Baramati and Parli veterinary colleges, with Rs 564.58 crore allocated for each institution. The funding will be used to develop advanced research centres, state-of-the-art laboratories, and modern facilities. Each college will have 96 faculty positions and 138 non-teaching staff on a permanent basis. Additionally, approval has been given for hiring 42 staff members on contract basis.Meanwhile, during the meeting on Tuesday, the cabinet also approved a draft of Maharashtra State Data Policy and took a decision to establish an authority established for effective transparent use of information from various departments of the state government.According to officials, the Maharashtra State Data Policy has been prepared in order to utilize the information (data) collected by various government departments for the speedy functioning as well as for the effective implementation of schemes and projects. For this, a State Data Authority is being established under the Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (Mitra).An official in the know of the matter said, “Due to digitisation, a large amount of information is collected from various departments. The policy has been formed, considering how this information and data can be used to its full potential. If this information from various departments, educational institutions, research institutions and industries is available together, administrative procedures can be implemented efficiently and transparently. The policy has ensured uniformity in the use of this information and easy access to this database will be available to various departments for public use.”“Through the policy, the statistical information of each department will be accurate and will also be consistent. Similarly, the burden of collecting statistical information from time to time will be reduced of the staffers, anganwadi workers and agricultural assistants, who are working in rural areas. They will be able to focus more on their core work and this information will be collected digitally through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system and Aadhaar links collected from other government programmes. The Mahastride project is working for the implementation of this policy. It has been funded by the World Bank,”the official added.© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Maharashtrapune