Punjab Cabinet decides to regularise services of 36,000 employees

Employees with more than 10 years of service would be regularised, Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi said at his press conference after the cabinet meeting

The Punjab cabinet on Tuesday decided to regularise the services of 36,000 employees working on contract, ad hoc, work charged, daily wages and temporary basis.

The cabinet also decided to repeal the Punjab Contract Farming Act, 2013.

Employees with more than 10 years of service would be regularised, chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi said at his press conference after the cabinet meeting. The draft “Punjab Protection and Regularisation of Contractual Employees Bill-2021” to be introduced in the ongoing session of the state assembly was also approved by the cabinet.

It also gave approval for the extra creation of deemed posts. The provisions of reservation policy would be followed during the regularisation process of these employees, according to a spokesperson of the chief minister’s office (CMO). However, this decision of regularisation would not be a binding on the boards and corporations.

In December 2016, the then SAD-BJP government had also passed the Punjab Adhoc, Contractual, Daily Wage, Temporary, Work Charged and Outsourced Employees’ Welfare Bill, 2016, in a special session convened ahead of the 2017 state polls, to regularise the series of 30,000 employees of various government departments. However, the regularisation of services did not fructify.

Repeal of Contract Farming Act

The cabinet also decided to repeal the Punjab Contract Farming Act, 2013, in view of the dilemma and fear in the minds of farmers of the state due to its strict provisions like imprisonment, monetary penalties and other rigorous punishments. The decision has been taken in the larger interest of the state farmers, the spokesperson said.

The cabinet also approved the “Punjab Horticulture Nursery Bill-2021” to be introduced in the state assembly session by amending “Punjab Fruit Nurseries Act-1961”. The amended Act is necessitated in view of drastic changes in the new technologies like IT, GPS tagging, traceability etc. and these developments are essentially to be made part of this Act.

OTS scheme for unauthorised constructions

The cabinet also gave nod to promulgate “The Punjab One-Time Voluntary Disclosure and Settlement of Violations of the Buildings Bill, 2021” for all unauthorised constructions, which have come up till September 30, 2021.

The scheme, based on the recommendations submitted by a cabinet sub-committee headed by local bodies minister Brahm Mohindra, is aimed at providing one-time opportunity to the violators within the municipal areas who have made non-compoundable violations in the buildings for regularisation without compromising on public safety/security and convenience. The compounding fee has also been reduced by 25%.

There are a large number of unauthorised constructions where buildings plans have not been approved. Most of the violations are non-compoundable and therefore such buildings cannot be regularised under the existing provisions. “The state government therefore feels that the best course of action to deal with such buildings is to regularise them provided these meet fire and safety standards and do not compromise on public safety/security and convenience & also to stop future unauthorised constructions,” said the official spokesperson.

Power plants’ tariff to be re-determined

“The Punjab Energy Security, Termination of PPAs and Redetermination of Power Tariff Bill, 2021”, which is to be placed in the state assembly for enactment, was also approved by the cabinet to refer PPAs with Nabha Power Limited and Talwandi Sabo Power Limited to PSERC for re-determination of tariff. It also gave a go ahead to the “Punjab Renewable Energy Security, Reform, Termination and Re-determination of Power Tariff Bill, 2021,” to be placed in the ongoing session.

Hike in minimum wages

A hike of ₹415.89 in minimum wages has been approved by the cabinet with effect from March 1, 2020, and September 1, 2020. The minimum wage has now been revised from ₹8,776.83 to ₹9,192.72.

A worker would also be entitled to get arrears of ₹8,251 from March 1, 2020 up to October, 2021. The cabinet also accorded approval to the universalisation of Ayushman Bharat - Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojana, under which the entire population of Punjab would be provided an insurance cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year, except for state and central government employees and pensioners. It also approved “The Punjab (Institutional and Other Building) Tax Repeal Bill, 2021” to be introduced in the current session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha to waive unpaid dues in all cases. This decision would give a relief of ₹250 crore to the beneficiaries.