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.
In spite of the pressure and demand to step down, the accused seer has categorically refused to quit, according to sources. The meeting was held in the leadership of former minister H Ekantaiah in this regard and discussed future course of action.
According to information, the deceased used to beat the juveniles and would often snatch their money to buy alcohol and drugs. The juveniles had been planning to take revenge for this. A senior police official said that the deceased was identified as Ajay, a resident of Labor Colony in Outer Delhi. The official said that the juveniles stabbed him repeatedly and fled from the crime scene.
The murder of Brar, who was a close relative of Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar, has triggered an inter-gang rivalry between the Davinder Bambiha gang and the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, leading to a spate of murders in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and the National Capital Region (NCR) Delhi. Brar was shot dead outside a nightclub in Chandigarh in October 2020.
It was alleged that the accused illegally collected public deposits throughout Odisha by alluring the people with various deposit schemes falsely promising high returns and did not refund the maturity amount and thereby cheated the investors of their due amount.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested two persons for extorting money from foreign nationals in the form of cryptocurrencies and gift vouchers. The accused were identified as Vijay and Vishal.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday called upon the youth to follow the ideals of Shaheed Bhagat Singh to make Punjab a front-runner state in the country. The Chief Minister laid floral tributes to Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev here during which a contingent of Punjab Police gave guard of honour as a mark of respect.
