Eyeing polls, Punjab to regularise services of 36,000 employees
Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 Nov, 2021 11:28 AM
Chandigarh, Nov 9 (IANS) In a major decision to regularise the services of nearly 36,000 employees ahead of the Assembly elections, the Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Punjab Protection and Regularisation of Contractual Employees Bill, 2021 to be introduced in the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha session for enactment.
This decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Charanjit Channi here.
A spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said with this decision the services of nearly 36,000 employees with more than 10 years of service would be regularised.
Likewise, the Cabinet also gave approval for the extra creation of deemed posts.
The provisions of reservation policy would be followed during the regularisation process of these employees. However, this decision of regularisation would not be a binding on the boards and corporations, the spokesperson added.
Keeping in view the fears owing to the strict provisions incorporated in the Punjab Contract Farming Act like imprisonment, monetary penalties and other rigorous punishments, the Cabinet decided to repeal the Act in the larger interest of the farmers.
It also gave approval to amend Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act of 1961 to revoke the anti-farmer provisions.
The time-tested Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act is a legislative measure enacted by the state government to facilitate the development of market infrastructure, to provide better facilities and amenities to farmers to sell their agricultural produce, besides to regulate the marketing of agricultural produce for the elimination of malpractices prevalent in the trade.
According to the sources, the panel members were reported about the delay and red tapism in the bureaucracy which has been hampering the pace of development in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and many new schemes announced by the Union government were getting affected.
Its convenor and founder K.C. Singh, a former envoy to the United Arab Emirates, and Iran, said the manch wants to focus on challenges facing Punjab today and take the people's views.
Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday hailed the victory of his party in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) elections as "a forceful referendum of the Khalsa Panth in favour of the panthic identity and religious commitment of the party".
Ranjit Singh, a former follower of Ram Rahim, was shot dead by four assailants on July 10, 2002, in Kurukshetra after he allegedly "raised his voice" against the self-styled godman, who is currently lodged at the high-security Sunaria jail in Rohtak, 250 kms from state capital Chandigarh.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief J P Nadda on Tuesday asked the Congress national leadership to clarify their stand on whether they support the remarks on Kashmir and Pakistan made by party leaders in Punjab. Nadda said that the silence of the Congress leadership will be seen as being implicit to such objectionable remarks.
The farmers union leaders had earlier pointed out that Punjab had failed to hike sugarcane SAP in proportion to Haryana over this period, causing fiscal losses to them.
