At first cabinet meet, Punjab CM Channi bats for pro-poor initiatives
The cabinet meeting was chaired by Punjab CM Channi and attended by deputy chief ministers OP Soni and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa
At the first cabinet meeting as the chief minister on Monday, Charanjit Singh Channi announced to take pro-poor initiatives.
The cabinet decided to launch these initiatives from October 2 to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The cabinet meeting, which was also attended by deputy chief ministers OP Soni and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, emphasised to lay special focus on the core sectors of education and health.
It directed the housing and urban development department to start the construction of 32,000 EWS houses on priority. Three-member cabinet decided that the free mining of sand by landowners will be allowed so as to abolish the contract system. Under this system, any person can mine sand from his land to ensure its availability to the consumers at affordable rates.
The cabinet also discussed to increase free electricity units from the existing 200 units to 300 units for the SC/BC/BPL domestic consumers. It asked the additional chief secretary, power, to bring the proposal in the next cabinet meeting to give relief to the poor and needy.
The cabinet also discussed to waive the pending electricity bills of tubewells working under rural water supply schemes and also to provide free water supply to villagers.
The cabinet reviewed to give relief to the domestic water and sewerage consumers in urban areas. It was decided that local government department will bring a proposal in the next meeting.
It also decided to simplify the process of allotment of 5-marla plots and empowered the panchayat samitis to decide the cases. “A special campaign will be launched by the rural development and panchayats department to finalise the allotment of plots to the eligible beneficiaries within two months,” said a government spokesperson.
The cabinet decided to come up with a comprehensive policy for the implementation of the Right to Education Act and providing monetary help to the eligible educational institutes be prepared and put up in the next meeting.
