The Punjab government on Saturday said the backlog of posts reserved for physically challenged persons in all departments will be cleared within a month. Also, disabled children as well as wards of physically challenged persons will be given free education up to Class 12 in government and government-aided schools.
Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal took these decisions during a meeting the Punjab Handicapped Union delegation, said a government spokesperson.
Badal asked the secretary, social security, to ensure all vacant posts in various departments, which had already been advertised, are filled within a month. Badal also directed officers concerned to pursue the case for enhancing the existing limit of loan for physically challenged persons from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh with the Centre, said the spokesperson.
In another decision, Badal gave his nod to convert 162 vacancies of junior basic training (JBT) and elementary teacher training (ETT) teachers exclusively meant for physically challenged persons into hobby teachers so as to facilitate them to discharge their duties professionally with much ease.
Badal asked the social security department to prepare a comprehensive proposal for recommending a suitable hike in the pension for these disabled persons so that a final decision in this regard could be taken by the state cabinet at the earliest. He also directed the department to thoroughly examine the case for extending benefits to physically challenged persons under the Bhagat Puran Singh Sehat Bima Yojana.
{{/usCountry}}Badal asked the social security department to prepare a comprehensive proposal for recommending a suitable hike in the pension for these disabled persons so that a final decision in this regard could be taken by the state cabinet at the earliest. He also directed the department to thoroughly examine the case for extending benefits to physically challenged persons under the Bhagat Puran Singh Sehat Bima Yojana.
{{/usCountry}}Showing empathy with physically challenged persons, the CM asked the secretary to ensure their grievances are redressed on priority at district level instead of coming to the state headquarters, saving them difficulties and traumatic experience, said the spokesperson.