Punjab cabinet approves restructuring of 4 departments to create employment opportunities

Punjab Cabinet on Thursday approved the restructuring of four more departments, including the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), to create more employment opportunities in place of archaic, non-essential and long-vacant posts.

"Besides PPCB, the departments that will be restructured in this phase are Governance Reforms, Environment and Climate Change, and Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training," said the official spokesperson of the government after the virtual Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.To incentivise Class 10th students of government schools, the Punjab government has also decided to increase the Hargobind Khurana Scholarship amount from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per month.

"The scheme, being implemented by the School Education department since August 1, 2013, will also now be amended to promote brilliance among students by making it applicable to those obtaining 90 per cent marks or above instead of the earlier ceiling of 80 per cent. Students studying in Adarsh Schools run by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) would be paid the scholarship amount by the Board out of its own funds," the spokesperson said.

In another decision, the Cabinet cleared the presentation of Supplementary Demands for Grants for the year 2020-21 along with CAG audit reports for the year 2018-19, in the ongoing budget session of the Vidhan Sabha.

It also approved the tabling of Finance Accounts and Appropriation Accounts for the year ended March 31, 2019, in the House.

The Cabinet also approved the Annual Administrative Reports of Town and Country Planning department for the years 2017-2018 and 2018-19.

( With inputs from ANI )