as reported earlier, retired diplomat, pawan kumar verma, has already been named as cultural advisor to the chief minister.
the cabinet also gave its nod to the proposal of the environment and forest department for increasing the forest cover in the state.
according to the principal secretary, cabinet coordination department, deepak kumar, 20 days before the felling of trees––if needed to complete a project––the agency concerned will have to give in writing the detailed report to the concerned divisional forest officer (dfo). after seven days of inquiry by the dfo concerned, the cutting process would begin. but each agency will have to plant three saplings for felling one tree.
the cabinet approved the proposal to install eight fluoride treatment plants in order to provide safe drinking water. it would be installed in nalanda, gaya, rohtas, bhagalpur, banka, aurangabad, munger and jamui. it will cost rs 39.46 lakh per unit.
it has also decided to set up iron treatment water plants in nine districts. they would be set up in katihar, purnia, kishanganj, araria,saharsa, supaul, madhepura, begusarai and khagaria at a cost of rs 45.72 crore.
the government will spend rs 41.02 crore on setting up 13 more transformer repair workshops (trws) in different parts of the state. till date, there are only seven trws in the state. in the first phase, seven trws would be set up at munger, motihari, begusarai, patna (phulwarisharif), nalanda (harnaut), supaul and aurangabad (barun). in the second phase, six trws would be set up at araria (forbesganj), buxar, chhapra, bhabhua, samastipur (kalyanpur) and banka.

the cabinet also approved a grant of rs 10.15 crore for the development of tharus in west champaran district.