The Cabinet under the leadership of the Chief Minister gave the green signal to the amendment in Rule 12 of the Punjab Panchayat Elections Rules, 1994.

Chandigarh, 29 August

The Punjab Cabinet under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Thursday approved the amendment to Rule 12 of the Punjab Panchayat Elections Rules, 1994 with the aim of ensuring overall development of villages. With this, candidates will no longer be able to contest the elections of Panchayati Raj institutions on the election symbols of political parties.

The decision in this regard was taken in the meeting of the group of ministers held in the Chief Minister’s office in the Punjab Civil Secretariat-1.

The spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the cabinet reasoned that contesting elections on party symbols leads to untoward incidents. This leads to increased political factionalism in panchayats, due to which funds and grants remain unused, whereas this money could be spent on development in rural areas. Political factionalism leads to divisions among panchayats, leaving quorum incomplete and grants unutilized.

Political factionalism of Panchayat members also leads to violent clashes between different party groups at the village level during elections, causing law and order problems and adversely affecting the social fabric of the rural society.

After eight years, PCS Decision to increase the capacity of cadre of officers

In order to create more employment opportunities for the youth and increase administrative efficiency in the larger public interest, the Punjab Cabinet today gave its approval to increase the existing strength of the Punjab Civil Services (Executive Branch) cadre from 310 to 369 posts. This decision has been taken keeping in mind the formation of new districts and new subdivisions and administrative requirements. It may be mentioned that this review has come after a gap of more than eight years and it has led to the appointment of Joint Secretary in the Punjab Civil Secretariat, Chief Minister’s Field Officers (formerly AC Grievances), Sub-Divisional Magistrate, EM-Com- Protocol Officers, A.D.C. (UD), Directors, will pave the way for expansion of Mission Directors and other posts in FIDEL.

Approval of construction of ponds along Ghaggar river to raise ground water level

The cabinet also approved the construction of ponds along Ghaggar river in village Chando to increase the underground water level. These ponds can be filled with water from river Ghaggar during floods and this water can be used rationally during normal days. This will increase the underground water level and ensure the supply of water for the irrigation needs of the farmers in the nearby areas.

Approval to create 36 new posts in Session Division Malerkotla

The Cabinet also approved the creation of Sessions Division, Malerkotla, which will create 36 new posts including the post of District and Sessions Judge for Sessions Division, Malerkotla. This will ensure that the residents of Malerkotla get justice in their own district. This will save common man’s precious time, money and energy and they will not have to travel to other districts for this purpose.

DSP who died during duty. Decision to give job to wife on the basis of compassion

In the decision taken keeping in mind the human concern, the Punjab Cabinet has given DSP who died while on duty. gave permission to give government job to his wife. According to this decision, the late DSP Sandeep Singh’s wife Rupinder Kaur will be appointed Naib Tehsildar on compassionate grounds. It is worth mentioning that PPS Officer Sandeep Singh died in a road accident on the intervening night of 5 and 6 April 2024 while on election duty.

Amendments to the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 approved

With a view to facilitate taxpayers and ensure tax compliance by taxpayers, the Cabinet approved amendments to the ‘Punjab Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017’ to define input service distributors and allocation of credit. With this decision, the use of extra-natural alcohol in the production of alcoholic liquor for human consumption will not be subject to provincial GST. will be out of scope. Apart from this, an authorized representative will be able to appear before the appropriate authority in place of the summoned person and the time limit for issuing demand notices and orders against the demands of the financial year 2024-25 will be reduced to 42 months. The purpose of this is to reduce the maximum limit of advance deposit for filing an appeal before the Appellate Authority from Rs.25 crore to Rs.20 crore so that for the financial years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 Section 73 of this Act Conditional remission of fine and interest due to demand notices issued under With this, PGST Section 168A of the Act will come into effect from March 31, 2020.

Green flag for early release of three prisoners

The Cabinet also approved the early release of three prisoners serving life sentences in Punjab jails. After approval of the Cabinet under Article 163 of the Constitution of India, these special release cases will now be sent to the Governor of Punjab for consideration under Article 161 of the Constitution of India.

Service call of House Surgeons/House Physicians extended by one year

The Cabinet extended by one year the policy of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare regarding extension of services of House Surgeons/House Physicians. Its aim is to ensure quality and efficient health services to the residents of the state.

Approval of placing audit reports in the Legislative Assembly

On the recommendation of the Governor, the Cabinet gave the go-ahead to place the audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Government of India in the House during the upcoming session of the Punjab Legislative Assembly.The Cabinet under the leadership of the Chief Minister gave the green signal to the amendment in Rule 12 of the Punjab Panchayat Elections Rules, 1994.