Vacant posts in AG’s office: Punjab cabinet eases income criteria for SC law officers by 50%
The Punjab cabinet on Friday decided to relax by 50% the income criteria for contractual engagement of law officers belonging to the SC community in the state
Chandigarh : The Punjab cabinet on Friday decided to relax by 50% the income criteria for contractual engagement of law officers belonging to the SC community in the state.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by chief minister Bhagwant Mann here to provide adequate representation to members of SC community in the advocate general’s office. The state cabinet gave a nod to promulgate an ordinance to amend the Punjab Law Officers Engagement Act, 2017, for this, said finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema.
He said 58 posts in the AG office are reserved for SC/ST lawyers and several of these remained vacant due to stringent income norms. “The purpose of relaxation in income criteria is to provide adequate representation to members of the SC community for contractual engagement,” he added.
Retirement age of medical faculty raised
The state cabinet also approved a proposal to enhance the retirement age of doctors and professors serving in medical colleges under medical education and research department from 62 years to 65 years to address the shortage of teaching faculty. “This will help in imparting quality education in medical Colleges continuously, benefitting the students in these colleges,” the cabinet minister said.
In another important decision, the cabinet gave consent to hire the specialist doctors retiring from the service to cope up with the shortage of doctors in government hospitals. Specialist doctors will be hired annually on the basis of requirement in larger public interest, according to an official release.
The cabinet also accorded its approval to “one time relaxation” (OTR) policy regarding non-construction fee and outstanding allotment amount for allottees of improvement trusts in the state. The aim is to give relief to the allottees as the penal interest will be waived.
Reorganisation of blocks
To maintain geographical and administrative contiguity, efficiency, cost optimisation and legislative synergy, the cabinet also gave a green signal for reorganisation and rationalisation of the existing blocks in the state. The realignment of blocks is necessitated to ensure better administration of these blocks in the larger public interest, according to an official spokesperson. There are 154 blocks in the state currently and due to some ambiguities, several problems are being faced to run administration smoothly in these blocks.
