Chandigarh, Oct 21 (IANS) In a major decision, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday approved restoration of the old pension scheme for the government employees.
A spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said a decision to this effect was taken in meeting of Cabinet, with Mann in the chair, here.
The spokesperson said the employees will be given option for adopting the old pension scheme or the new pension scheme. The old pension scheme was discontinued in 2004 and ever since then the employees are being given the new pension scheme.
However, the employees have been since long demanding the restoration of the old pension scheme.
Keeping in view the well-being of the lakhs of employees, the Cabinet has decided to restore the old pension scheme, a major relief to the employees.
Realising that the employees are the backbone of the government, the state has taken this historic decision which is likely to benefit all category of the employees, the spokesperson said.
Also, the Cabinet decided to give six per cent dearness allowance (DA) to government employees and pensioners with effect from October 1.
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, the spokesperson said.
A Vigilance Bureau spokesman said during the ongoing investigation in the alleged corruption for cutting khair trees, issuance of NOCs for commercial establishments, purchase of tree guards worth crores of rupees, etc, circumstantial evidences surfaced on record against Kumar, on the basis of which he was named accused.
The accused was allowed treatment at the Meggaon Hospital of Shivamogga considering his heart ailment on Wednesday. Murugha Sharanaru was arrested following the complaint by two minor girls, who accused him of sexually exploiting them and threatening them.
A senior CBI official said that a case was registered against the Ved Prakash, the SI posted at Police Station Jaffarpur Kalan, District Dwarka, Delhi on a complaint. It was alleged that the accused was demanding Rs 50,000 from the victim for helping with a complaint pending against him besides settling a land dispute in his favour.
The Chief Minister said instead of paddy, the farmer of the state is ready to sow sunflower, maize, and pulses but for that they must get adequate and assured price. He said this will help checking the depleting water table in the state, on one hand, and making agriculture a profitable venture on the other.
Two persons injured in a road accident on Tuesday-- Sumit Gaur (21),and Mahboob Siddique (20) -- were declared dead and their bodies were kept at the hospital morgue overnight. When Sumit's relatives arrived at the mortuary to claim the body on Wednesday, they found multiple bite marks on his face. The rats had nibbled the nose, they alleged.
Raids on locations related to Popular Front of India (PFI) are being carried out in eight places in Uttar Pradesh. Mohammad Waseem, resident of Indira Nagar in Lucknow, has been taken away by the NIA sleuths, according to official sources. Waseem runs a tailoring shop and digital documents were recovered from his possession during the raid.
