In a major step aimed at bringing total transparency in governance, the Punjab Council of Ministers, headed by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, on Friday decided to make it mandatory for all members of Legislative Assembly and Parliament from Punjab to declare their immovable properties on January 1 every year, with the exception of the current year, when the declarations are required to be filed by September 30.This decision was taken at the meeting of Council of Ministers chaired by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh here at CMO on Friday.Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office said that the CoM gave approval to amend 'The Punjab Legislative Assembly (Salaries and Allowance of Member) Act, 1942' to make it mandatory for all MLAs and MPs from Punjab to declare their immovable properties immediately after the said amendment for the year 2017-18.To give a fillip to air connectivity from Ludhiana, Pathankot, Bathinda and Adampur under Regional Connectivity Scheme - UDAN of Civil Aviation Ministry, the CoM also decided to grant ex-post facto approval for signing Memorandum of Understanding amongst Government of Punjab, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India and Airport Authority of India. The move will further boost economic and trade activity across the state with the launch of new flights through these airports.
The CoM also gave a go ahead to new 'Punjab Health and Family Welfare Technical (Group 'A') Services Rules-2017' framed by the Health and Family Welfare department, thereby repealing all the previous notifications and service rules in this context. Earlier, the Punjab Medical and Health Department Nursing Superintendents Matrons, Sister Tutors, Public Health Nurses (Teaching) and Nursing sisters, Public Health Nurses, Staff Nurses and male nurses (state services class III) Rules, 1964 were notified for the establishment and service matters of various technical categories under the Health and Family Welfare Department. The newly rules would enable the department to undertake recruitment and promotions of various Technical Group 'A' vacant posts, besides providing more promotion channels for the medical, para-medical and technical staff of the department.In view of the poor financial health of the Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development & Finance Corporation and Punjab Backward Classes Land Development & Finance Corporation, the CoM rejected a proposal mooted by the Department of Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes & Minorities for creating posts of Senior Vice Chairman in these corporations.
The CoM authorized the Local Government department and Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board to approve extension of contract appointment of 68 Junior Engineers (Civil), transferred from the Education Department, after every six months. It was also decided that while considering their extension for six months the record of these JEs will be examined meticulously and in case of any discrepancy, the concerned employee will be reverted to the Education Department immediately. It may be noted that the Local Government department is already finalizing the recruitment process for 211 Junior Engineers (Civil) and once they join their duties, Junior Engineers of the Education Department would be sent back to their parent department.With a view to providing facilities of fire services at the grass roots level effectively, the CoM has also given a green signal to establish a Directorate of Fire Services to regulate and control 34 offices of Fire Brigades already established in 10 Municipal Corporation towns and 155 other Urban Local Bodies across the state. The new directorate will ensure availability and delivery of professional fire services by taking into special consideration the needs of high rise buildings, multiplexes, malls and industrial units involving dangerous operations.The Cabinet also approved the framing of the Punjab Public Works Buildings and Roads Branch (Naib Tehsildar Group-B) Service Rules, 2017, under the provisions of Article 309 of the Constitution of India.