Punjab govt to fill 645 posts of assistant professors in government colleges

The Punjab Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday, gave nod to fill up 645 posts of assistant professors in government colleges.

A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of the Council of Ministers held under the leadership of the Chief Minister here at his office in the Punjab Civil Secretariat- I.

Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said, "In order to overcome the acute shortage of teaching staff in 16 government colleges, Cabinet gave nod to fill up 645 posts of Assistant Professors through Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) in accordance with the University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations 2018 as being notified in the notification of UGC Pay Scales for Colleges and University teachers by the State Government."

This will help to accomplish the task of making the newly opened colleges fully functional as well as to meet the requirement of teaching faculty in all the existing colleges so that new courses can be started in these colleges. This will further facilitate to streamline and improve the management and quality of education in these colleges.

Likewise, the Cabinet also accorded approval to enhance the upper age limit for direct recruitment of Principals from 45 years to 53 years to enable the Associate Professors or Professors working in colleges up to the age of 53 years to apply for these posts, which will be filled through the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC).

"This age relaxation will provide a pool of competent and eligible persons to the government from amongst whom the selections can be made by PPSC. This will also enable experienced teachers with sufficient academic contribution and administrative acumen to compete for these posts," said the spokesperson of the CMO.

In another landmark decision, the Cabinet also gave the green signal to waive off the pending electricity bills worth more than Rs 9.31 crore of 366 registered (verified or identified) Gaushalas including 20 Government cattle ponds till October 31.

The step is aimed at enabling the gaushalas to contribute generously for checking the problem of stray menace. This adjustment will be made from the amount of Cow Cess collected and currently lying with PSPCL.

In a landmark initiative aimed at building a citizen-centric and forward-looking governance ecosystem, the Cabinet also gave nod to ink a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Governance Reforms and IDinsights India Private Limited.

"Through the MoU, the Government will collaborate with IDinsights India to seek the services of experts on a pro-bono basis to enhance the Government's abilities to use data and evidence in the service of better governance. This will enable the State Government in bringing greater professional expertise towards building a citizen-centric and forward-looking governance ecosystem," the spokesperson said.

The Cabinet also gave approval for amending the Punjab e-stamp Rules, 2014 to start online e-stamping upto Rs 500 in addition to existing provision.

The online option of e-Stamping is running successfully in other states and the online version of the e-Stamp certificate can also be printed on plain paper. As in the offline version, the online version will also have a 2D barcode and a UM, so that there is no issue regarding the security of stamp paper.

"So for the convenience of residents of State of Punjab it has been decided to start an online option of e-Stamp certificate as per which now residents of State of Punjab can get e-Stamp certificate of value up to Rs 500 through an online platform," it said.

The Cabinet has also given its approval to the Annual Administrative Reports of the Years 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 of the NRI Department of Punjab.

Likewise, for the better functioning of the Economic Policy and Planning Board, Punjab, the Cabinet also gave ex-post facto approval to the appointment of three Vice Chairmen namely Rajinder Gupta, Amrit Sagar Mittal and Sunil Gupta with Cabinet rank in the board. The Cabinet also gave nod to the terms and conditions of their appointment along with their salaries and allowances.

Keeping in view the larger public interest, the Cabinet also gave the green signal to create one post each of Naib Tehsildar (Agrarian), Sadar Kanungo and Naib Sadar Kanungo in the office of Deputy Commissioner Malerkotla.

The Cabinet also gave a go-ahead to amend Punjab Land Reforms Rules, 1973 by inserting Rule 6-A, Form 'L' and Form 'M' to facilitate the entry of change in land use for the land acquired for non-agricultural purposes in the revenue records.

( With inputs from ANI )