Face2News/Chandigarh
In a historic decision aimed at well being of the government employees, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday approved restoration of the Old Pension Scheme for the employees of the state government.
Divulging the details, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that a decision to this effect was taken in meeting of Cabinet held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister here at the Punjab Civil Secretariat I.
The spokesperson further said that the employees will be given option for adopting the Old Pension Scheme or the New Pension Scheme. It may be recalled that Old Pension Scheme for employees was discontinued in year 2004 and ever since then the employees are being given New Pension Scheme. However the employees have been since long demanding the restoration of Old Pension Scheme.
Keeping in view the well being of the lakhs of employees the Cabinet has decided to restore the Old Pension scheme in the state. The implementation of the scheme is likely to give major relief to the employees of the state. Realizing that employees are the backbone of the government, the state government has taken this historic decision which is likely to benefit all the employees of the state government.
PUNJAB TO GIVE 6% DA TO GOVT STAFF & PENSIONERS FROM OCTOBER 1, 2022: Meanwhile in significant decision, the Cabinet has also decided to give 6% Dearness Allowance (DA) to government employees and pensioners, with effect from October 1,2022. The decision, which will benefit lakhs employees and pensioners, was approved by the Cabinet.
The Council of Ministers opined that the employees were a critical segment of the state administration and safeguarding their interests was the government’s top priority.
GOVT. JOBS ONLY TO YOUTH HAVING IN DEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF PUNJABI LANGUAGE: In a landmark decision aimed at further cementing the ethos of Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiat in the state, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today gave nod for amending Rule 17 of Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of services) Rules, 1994 and Punjab State (Group D) Service Rules 1963 with an aim to ensure that only those candidates are appointed in the Punjab government who have in depth knowledge of Punjabi language.
A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of the Council of Ministers held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister here at Punjab Civil Secretariat- I.
Divulging the details a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that in the rule 17 of the Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994, the first proviso, for the words “Provided that where a person”, has been replaced with “Provided that no person shall be appointed to any post in Group-'C' service unless he has passed a qualifying test of Punjabi Language equivalent to Matriculation standard with at least fifty per cent marks, to be conducted by respective recruitment agencies in addition to competitive examination. The test of Punjabi Language shall be a mandatory qualifying test and failure to secure a minimum of fifty per cent marks in Punjabi Language will disqualify the candidate for being considered in the final merit list of candidates to be selected irrespective of their scores or marks in other papers of the respective exam.
Similarly as per amendment in clause (d) of the Rule 5, in the Punjab State (Group-D) Service Rules, 1963, the words “provided that” has been replaced with “Provided that no person shall be appointed to any post in any service by direct appointment unless he has passed a qualifying test of Punjabi Language equivalent to Middle standard with at least fifty per cent marks, to be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies in addition to competitive examination. The test of Punjabi Language shall be a mandatory qualifying test and failure to secure a minimum of fifty per cent marks in Punjabi Language will disqualify the candidate for being considered in the final merit list of candidates to be selected irrespective of their scores or marks in other papers of the respective exam.
AMENDS PUNJAB MINOR MINERALS RULES 2013 TO ENHANCE PENALTY ON PERPETRATORS OF ILLEGAL MINING: In order to check illegal mining in the state, the Cabinet also gave green signal to amend rule 7.5 of the Punjab Minor Minerals Rules 2013 thereby enhancing the slab of penalty from existing Rs 5000- Rs 25,000 to Rs 50000 to 2.5 lakh. The decision has been taken as it was realized that people engaged in illegal mining are afraid of penalty, whereas the rates of penalty are very negligible and were fixed a long time ago and had varied between Rs 5000 to Rs 25000 which is very low. So it has been decided to enhance these rates ten times and fix the rates of penalty between 50000 to 2 50 lac depending upon the carrier mode viz. Tractor Trolly and other small vehicles. Truck and Multi excel truck or other.
APPROVES TO AMEND ‘THE PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE MARKETS ACT-1961’: With a view to cut down financial expenditure and administrative burden in the state, the Cabinet also gave approval to amend in Section 3 (1) of ‘The Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act-1961’ to abolish the posts of Vice-Chairman and Senior Vice-Chairman in Punjab Mandi Board. The posts of Vice Chairman and Senior Vice Chairman were created in the year 2010 and 2016 respectively.
CREATES 23 POSTS OF CM’S FIELD OFFICER BY ABOLISHING ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER (GRIEVANCES): To overhaul the grievance redressal mechanism, the Punjab Cabinet gave its approval to abolish the existing 23 posts of Assistant Commissioner (Grievances) with creation of a similar number of new Posts of Chief Minister’s Field Officer at District level. With this significant decision, the citizens of the state would get a formal platform where their grievances can be redressed in a timely manner after being analyzed in an impartial, categorical manner. The Deputy Commissioner of the district shall monitor the work of the Chief Minister's Field Officer regularly and have requisite support provided for effective Redressal of grievances.
APPROVES SCHEME FOR COMPASSIONATE APPOINTMENT TO THE WARDS OF THE DECEASED EMPLOYEES OF PSEB (NOW PSPCL): The Cabinet also approved the Scheme for compassionate Appointment to the wards of the deceased employees of PSEB (now PSPCL) expired before April 16, 2010 who have earlier been covered under solatium policy. As per this decision grant of compassionate employment shall be applicable prospectively to only those cases where the date of death of the deceased employee was before April 04, 2010 and which were earlier considered under solatium policy including the cases in which date of death of deceased employee was prior to the year 2002 (the year in which compassionate appointment policy was discontinued). This scheme for grant of compassionate employment shall be optional. The dependents who don't want to opt for a job on compassionate grounds under this scheme will be allowed to retain the benefits of solatium and/or special pension already availed under solatium policy.
CABINET EXEMPTS VEHICLES CARRYING THE PARKASH OF RELIGIOUS SCRIPTURES FROM MOTOR VEHICLE TAX: In a bid to pay great reverence and respect to the sacred Religious Scriptures of every religion, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday gave its nod to exempt especially designed vehicles for carrying the Parkash of Religious Scriptures of different religions in the state from Motor Vehicle Taxes (MVT).
A decision to this effect was taken in meeting of council of Ministers held here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister at Punjab Civil Secretariat.
Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said there are around 25,000 such vehicles in the state which are being used for carrying the Parkash of Religious Scriptures for religious ceremonies or religious events. The MVT under section 13 (3) of Punjab Motor Vehicle Taxation Act, 1924 of such vehicle is around Rs. 10,000 per annum. However the state government has decided to exempt these vehicles from the tax which is likely to cause a financial implication/relief of about Rs. 20 crore to Rs 25 crore to the Government.
The spokesperson further said that the Cabinet decided to grant exemption for these vehicles in view of the Nagar Kirtans/ Harinaam performed by various religious organizations which provides act as a catalyst to promote ethos of communal harmony, peace and brotherhood. Such religious ceremonies and events strengthen the social fabric in the state. However, as the religious institutions using these vehicles run only with donations and do not have any separate income. This exemption has been given on specially designed Motor Vehicles used in their religious ceremonies or religious events to provide a lot of financial relief to all religious organizations. They will be able to run these vehicles smoothly.
