Chandigarh, February 14 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau): The Punjab cabinet on Thursday approved disbursal of pending arrears of government employees and pensioners of Rs 14,000 crore.
The decision was taken in the meeting of the Council of Ministers held here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, said an official release.
A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said the cabinet approved the release of arrears of revised pay and pensions and leave encashment from January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2022 and of dearness allowance from July 1, 2021 to March 31, 2024 for pensioners and employees.
This sum of Rs 14,000 crore will be released in stages and will give relief to the employees and pensioners.
Three lakh government employees and three lakh pensioners would benefit from the move, said the release.
To provide houses to the economically weaker section, the cabinet gave the nod to a policy for ‘Optimum utilisation of land reserved for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)’.
According to this, scattered land pockets falling in various colonies would be monetised and the funds utilised for the benefit of EWS, said the release.
For this, 1,500 acres of land woul;d be acquired across the state, it said.
The cabinet also gave the nod to create new posts in the Punjab State Legal Services Authority for setting up 22 new lok adalats in the state.
To check the pilferage of taxes in the state by proper utilisation of the human resources in the taxation department, the Cabinet also gave approval for the creation of 476 new posts in the department.
The green signal was given for changing the nomenclature of the posts of the inspectors in the department as they will be now known as state taxation officers.
The cabinet also gave the green signal for amending the rules and qualifications for the direct recruitment of physical training instructors in the elementary education department. This will facilitate the recruitment of 2,000 such teachers across the state in the coming days.
The cabinet approved the setting up of special fast-track NRI courts in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Moga and Ludhiana districts.
Summary: The Punjab government sanctions the disbursal of ₹14,000 crore in arrears, benefiting state employees and pensioners.