Chandigarh, October 18
CM Charanjit Channi-led Cabinet today decided to waive all pending water bills of rural and urban areas, besides reducing the monthly user charges from Rs 166 to Rs 50 per household. The waiver would cause additional burden of Rs 1,868 crore on the state exchequer.
The Cabinet also decided that the government would pay the power bills of the rural and urban water supply scheme with effect from October 1, entailing an additional annual expenditure of Rs 440 crore.
Chamkaur Sahib gets Rs 1,000-crore projects
- The CM announced a slew of development projects worth Rs1,000 crore for his constituency, Chamkaur Sahib, on Monday. He also distributed Rs60 crore to the panchayats of 75 villages
- The Chief Minister said people should heave a sigh of relief as the state government had waived the outstanding electricity bills of all consumers with power load up to 2KW
- He said tenders worth Rs100 crore had been floated for the construction of a skill development university. Other projects included a stadium at Mehtot village and upgrade of CHC to a 100-bed hospital
Channi said since majority of the pending dues in rural water supply schemes and urban local bodies were on account of the pending power bills that the department concerned had failed to clear to the PSPCL, the government would not be compensating PSPCL in future.
Giving details of the Rs 1,868 crore waiver, the CM said while the outstanding arrears of rural water supply schemes was Rs 1,168 crore, the outstanding arrears of water supply and sewerage charges for domestic connections in urban areas was Rs 700 crore.
The Cabinet also reduced water usage charges to Rs 50 per month for domestic connections of all categories with plot size above 125 sq yards. — TNS
Other key decisions
Regular jobs for Group-D staff
The Cabinet gave a go-ahead to recruit the Group-D employees on regular basis, thus fulfilling their long-pending demand to instil a sense of job security
Decks cleared for new PPSC chairman
The Cabinet also gave approval to send recommendations to the Governor for appointment of Jagbans Singh as the new Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC)
Land acquisition for rail link
To boost economic activity in the region, the CM said land for the Patti-Makhu rail link would soon be acquired and farmers suitably compensated.
Punjab Cabinet waives Rs 1,868 crore water bills
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