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.
According to reports, Ankit had gone to meet the girl, late on Tuesday night. The girl's family members came to know and locked up Ankit in a room. "The family called other relatives and they all poured petrol on the boy and set him on fire. As he began screaming, they drove him out of their house and started shouting that the victim had attacked their house with a petrol bomb," said a source.
On January 12, the Supreme Court had appointed retired top court judge Justice Indu Malhotra to head the committee to investigate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security breach in Punjab.
Justice Ranjit Singh (retd), who headed the commission appointed by the previous Congress government into the alleged incidents of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and the subsequent police firing on protesters, has placed the then Chief Minister, the SAD patriarch, and then DGP Saini in dock.
According to Goa police, Sonali Phogat felt uneasy on Monday night and later in the morning (on Tuesday), she was taken to St. Anthony hospital in Anjuna at around 8 a.m., where she was declared brought dead. She had come to Goa on August 22 and was staying at a hotel in Anjuna.
Addressing the media here, Badal said "there should be a free and fair inquiry against all political leaders, including Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and MP Raghav Chadha, as well as Punjab government officials who facilitated the scam".
The contraband was hidden in the large growth of elephantine grass near border pillar No. 29/09, which was recovered by a BSF patrolling party led by Deputy Commandant Jaipal Singh. The BSF has lodged an FIR with the police but no arrests have been made so far.
