Chandigarh, December 9
The Punjab Cabinet on Thursday gave approval to regularise the services of ‘safai sewaks’ and sewermen and to waive outstanding water bills of consumers worth Rs 500 crore.
The move to regularise the services of ‘safai sewaks’ and sewermen will benefit 4,587 contractual employees working in the urban local bodies department, according to an official statement issued here.
The decision was taken by the cabinet in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
With the regularisation of services of these employees, the additional annual financial burden on the state exchequer during the first three years of probation would be approximately Rs 46 crore, the statement said.
After the probation period, annual increment and other allowances would be paid and this additional financial burden would be borne by urban local bodies, it added.
In another decision, the cabinet decided to waive arrears of water bills worth Rs 500 crore of the consumers across the state.
As per the decision taken by the government, the amount of water bill arrears of rural consumers is Rs 256.97 crore and of urban consumers Rs 17.98 crore. Also, an amount of Rs 224.55 crore for the water supply schemes run by the gram panchayats and committees will be waived.
The water supply and sanitation department is providing potable water to the people in rural areas of Punjab and in select cities of Muktsar Sahib, Fatehgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, Faridkot and Bathinda.
In October, Channi had announced to waive off arrears of rural water supply schemes, water supply and sewerage charges for domestic connection worth Rs 18,68 crore.
The cabinet also decided to implement the decision of slashing power tariff by Rs 3 per unit from November instead of December, 2021.
The state government had earlier announced to reduce electricity tariff by Rs 3 per unit for consumers having sanctioned load up to 7 KW.
This decision would involve an annual financial burden of Rs 151 crore on the state exchequer, thus benefitting nearly 69 lakh out of 71.75 lakh domestic consumers, the statement said.
The cabinet also declared the activity of excavation of brick earth from area up to two acres and depth up to three feet as non-mining activity.
Notably, various representations have been received from the brick kiln owners of Punjab for declaring the excavation of brick earth as non-mining activity.
The cabinet also accorded approval to extend the value of relief from Rs 12,000 per acre to Rs 17,000 per acre for 76-100 per cent of cotton crop loss.
By this measure, the affected farmers would be able to get a reasonable financial relief from the government. These relief rates will be effective from June 1, 2021, the statement said.
Relief worth Rs 416 crore has already been provided to the farmers affected by the damage caused to the cotton crop by the pink bollworm (pest attack).
The cabinet also decided to introduce a rule under a relevant section of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation (PAPR) Act to regularise unauthorised colonies and plots in the state.
It also decided to facilitate regularisation of standalone buildings like educational, medical, commercial, farm houses, religious, social etc which were constructed without the prior permission of the Housing and Urban Development Department by taking regularisation fee.
The cabinet also gave a go ahead to take over two private schools in Jalandhar. PTI
Punjab to regularise services of 4,500 ‘safai sewaks’ and sewermen
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