Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for direct recruitment of 167 employees in various technical and non-technical cadres in Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA).The decision, taken at a meeting here, is aimed at streamlining and improving the functioning of the special development authorities working under PUDA, besides filling the vacancies created over the past few years as a result of a large number of employees in different cadres attaining superannuation.This was disclosed by an official spokesperson after the meeting, chaired by the Chief Minister, who also holds the Housing and Urban Development portfolio.The meeting underlined the need for going in for direct recruitment in both technical and non-technical positions to meet the increase in work load in the Department offices/branches, over time, due to expansion of jurisdiction of the various development authorities, said the spokesperson. Agreeing that such recruitment was vital to strengthen the organisation and streamline its working, the Chief Minister gave his consent to recruitment of technical cadre in the posts of Sub Divisional Officers (Electrical & Horticulture), Junior Engineers (Electrical & Building), Draftsman (Engineering & Arch.) and non-technical in the posts of Law Officers and Clerk-cum-Data Entry Operators. The meeting was attended, among others, by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Media Advisor to CM Raveen Thukral, besides Vini Mahajan, Addl. Chief Secretary, Department of Housing & Urban Development; Anirudh Tiwari, Principal Secretary, Department of Finance, and Ravi Bhagat, Chief Administrator, PUDA.