The Punjab Cabinet today approved the summoning of the 3rd Session of 14th Vidhan Sabha from 17th to 21th December, 2012.
A decision to this effect was taken here at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by PunjabChief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in CMO this morning. Giving the details, the spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the session would commence on December 17 in the afternoon with obituary references. Financial Business if any, would be undertaken on December 18 and Legislative business on December 19. Non-official business would be conducted on December 20 and the house would adjourn sine-die after the proposed legislative business on December 21, 2012. There would be six sittings during these five days and double sitting would be on December 19. In order to check the menace of female foeticide and impart quality education to the girls in the state besides extending financial assistance to the poor families in bringing up the girl child, the Cabinet gave a go ahead to the work plan for the year 2012-13 to implement the proposed ‘Bebe Nanki Ladli Beti Kalyan Scheme’. The scheme which was a part of ‘Measures to improve Sex Ratio’ under the 13th Finance Commission would benefit the families having an annual income below Rs 30,000 or those covered under the Atta Dal scheme of the state government. The scheme would be applicable to the girl child born in the state after January 1, 2011. Besides, the scheme would be applicable to all the orphan girls found in the state after January 1, 2011. Under the scheme Rs 51.75 crore would be spent in year 2012-13 to deposit Rs 20,000 each in Life Insurance Corporation for 25875 beneficiaries.The Cabinet also approved the policy guidelines and building norms for the regularization of old as well as new marriage palaces in the state. The regularization of the existing marriage places would be permissible up to December 31, 2012 on payment of rationalized charges and no application would be entertained after December 20, 2012 for this purpose. Under the said policy, regularization of the new marriage palaces would be recommended by the district level committee. The policy has regulated the procedure and the entire state has been pided into seven zones for levying the Change of Land Use (CLU). The Cabinet also approved the creation of 21 posts of the newly set up Food Processing department to implement the food and agro processing policy besides giving suggestions from time to time to keep abreast the prospective entrepreneurs about the schemes launched by National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP). The directorate of food processing would also act as a single window for the prompt processing and clearance of the proposals of mega-agri projects under the industrial policy. In order to ensure proper and efficient functioning of the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) across the state and cope up with the shortage of Craft Instructors and Senior Assistants in the Technical Education and Industrial Training Department, the Cabinet gave a nod to take out 255 posts of craft instructors and 33 senior assistants from the purview of Punjab Public Service Commission/Punjab State Subordinate Services Selection Board. These craft instructors and senior assistants would be recruited forthwith on the basis of written test conducted by a designated agency in a transparent and fair manner as per the departmental rules so that the shortage of technical staff at cutting edge was taken care of. The newly staff to be required would ensure proper implementation of National Skill Development Mission and Skilled Development schemes of the department. The Cabinet also decided to hold the Council of Ministers’ meeting regularly on second and fourth Thursday every month.