MOVE AIMED AT IMPARTING QUALITY HIGHER EDUCATION TO STUDENTS, ACCORDS APPROVAL TO AMEND THE PUNJAB E-STAMP RULES, 2014
(MOREPIC1) Face2News/Chandigarh
As per the commitment of the state government to impart quality higher education to the students in the state, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today gave nod to fill up 645 posts of assistant professors in government colleges.
A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of the council of Ministers held under the leadership of the Chief Minister here at his office in the Punjab Civil Secretariat- I.
Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that in order to overcome acute shortage of teaching staff in 16 Government colleges, Cabinet gave nod to fill up 645 posts of Assistant Professors through PPSC in accordance with the UGC Regulations 2018 as being notified in the notification of UGC Pay Scales for Colleges and University teachers by the State Government.
This will help to accomplish the task of making the newly opened colleges fully functional as well as to meet the requirement of teaching faculty in all the existing colleges, so that new courses can be started in these colleges. This will further facilitate to streamline and improve the management and quality of education in these colleges.
ENHANCE UPPER AGE LIMIT FOR DIRECT RECRUITMENT OF PRINCIPALS IN GOVERNMENT COLLEGES FROM 45 YEARS TO 53 YEARS: Likewise, the Cabinet also accorded approval to enhance the upper age limit for direct recruitment of Principals from 45 years to 53 years to enable the Associate Professors/Professors working in colleges up to the age of 53 years to apply for these posts, which will be filled through the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC). This age relaxation will provide a pool of competent and eligible persons to the government from amongst whom the selections can be made by PPSC. This will also enable experienced teachers with sufficient academic contribution and administrative acumen to compete for these posts.
NOD TO ISSUE NOTIFICATION FOR IMPLEMENTING THE OLD PENSION SCHEME IN THE STATE, MOVE AIMED AT DIRECTLY BENEFITTING MORE THAN 1.75 LAKH GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES IN THE STATE
The Punjab Cabinet gave approval to the notification for implementing the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in the state thereby directly benefitting more than 1.75 lakh government employees. A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of the council of Ministers held under the leadership of the Chief Minister here at his office in the Punjab Civil Secretariat- I.
Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the state government has approved the Old Pension Scheme for its employees currently covered under New Pension Scheme (NPS) thereby fulfilling a long pending demand of employees of the state. This will directly benefit more than 1.75 lakh Government employees currently covered under NPS. In addition to this, 1.26 lakh employees are already covered under the existing Old Pension Scheme.
The scheme is expected to benefit more than 4, 100 Employees in the next five years alone. The scheme is aimed at safeguarding the future of Government Employees and recognizing their immense contribution towards the State. In order to ensure that the scheme being introduced is financially sustainable for the exchequer in future also, the state government will be contributing proactively towards creation of a pension corpus which will service the pension in future to the beneficiaries of the scheme.
This contribution towards the pension corpus will be Rs 1,000 Crore per annum initially and will gradually increase in future. In addition to this, the current accumulated corpus with NPS is Rs 16,746 Crore for which the state government will request Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Government of India to refund this amount for effective utilization at its end. The Cabinet reiterated its firm commitment that the scheme will be made self-sustainable from the resources available with the exchequer adding that under no circumstance, the future of employees' will be jeopardized.
WAIVES OFF PENDING POWER ARREARS OF GAUSHALAS TILL OCTOBER 31
In another landmark decision, the Cabinet also gave green signal to waive off the pending electricity bills worth more than Rs 9.31 crore of 366 registered (verified/identified) Gaushalas including 20 Government cattle ponds till October 31. The step is aimed at enabling the gaushalas to contribute generously for checking the problem of stray menace. This adjustment will be made from the amount of Cow Cess collected and currently lying with PSPCL.
GIVES GREEN SIGNAL TO INK A MOU FOR BUILDING A CITIZEN-CENTRIC AND FORWARD-LOOKING GOVERNANCE ECOSYSTEM : In a landmark initiative aimed at building a citizen-centric and forward-looking governance ecosystem, the Cabinet also gave nod to ink a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Governance Reforms and IDinsights India Private Limited. Through the MoU, the Government will collaborate with IDinsights India to seek the services of experts on a pro-bono basis to enhance the Government's abilities to use data and evidence in the service of better governance. This will enable the State Government in bringing greater professional expertise towards building a citizen-centric and forward-looking governance ecosystem. (SUBHEAD)
The Cabinet also gave approval for amending the Punjab e-stamp Rules, 2014 to start online e-stamping upto Rs 500 in addition to existing provision. The online option of e-Stamping is running successfully in other states and the online version of e-Stamp certificate can also be printed on plain paper. As in offline version, online version will also have a 2D barcode and a UM, so that there is no issue regarding security of stamp paper. So for the convenience of residents of State of Punjab it has been decided to start an online option of e-Stamp certificate as per which now residents of State of Punjab can get e-Stamp certificate of value up to Rs. 500/- through online platform.
APPROVES ANNUAL ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS OF NRI DEPARTMENT: The Cabinet has also given its approval to the Annual Administrative Reports of the Year 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 of NRI Department of Punjab.
Likewise, for the better functioning of the Economic Policy and Planning Board, Punjab, the Cabinet also gave ex-post facto approval to the appointment of three Vice Chairmen namely Rajinder Gupta, Amrit Sagar Mittal and Sunil Gupta with Cabinet rank in the board. The Cabinet also gave nod to terms and conditions of their appointment along with their salaries and allowances.
Keeping in view the larger public interest, the Cabinet also gave green signal to create one post each of Naib Tehsildar (Agrarian), Sadar Kanungo and Naib Sadar Kanungo in the office of Deputy Commissioner Malerkotla.
The Cabinet also gave a go ahead to amend Punjab Land Reforms Rules, 1973 by inserting Rule 6-A , Form ‘L’ and Form ‘M’ to facilitate the entry of change in land use for the land acquired for non-agricultural purposes in the revenue records.