Punjab Government employees will have to wait more for getting their dues cleared as Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa on Tuesday made it clear that a date-bound clearance of the arrears can not be assured.
Responding to a query raised by Congress MlA Balbir Singh Sidhu in the question hour, Dhindsa said that an amount of Rs1766 crore was due to employees on account of Dearness Allowance. Refusing to set a deadline for clearing the pending amount, Dhindsa said that Punjab was paying maximum salaries to its employees in the country. Making comparison with West Bengal, Dhindsa said that while the Government employees in West Bengal were being paid 75% DA, the employees of Punjab are getting DA at 119% of their basic salary.
He said that government had disbursed an amount of 500 crore in December, 2015 for paying arrears of DA and more amounts would be released as the financial situation allows.
Blue Cards issue haunts Govt
The allegations of discrimination in issuance of Blue Cards under the Food Security Act, continue to haunt the ruling alliance as the Food and Supplies Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon on Thursday ducked the attack of Congress leader Sunil Jakhar saying that if the Opposition has objection on enrollment of beneficiaries of Blue Cards in Abohar or elsewhere, they can raise their objection before the Food Commission.
Putting the query, Jakhar squared up Food and Supplies Minister on the issue of authorizing authority for enrollment of beneficiaries. He said that in his constituency, 34,000 thousand applications were received, but 17,000 people were enrolled and 17,000 were left aside. He alleged that the enrollment for Blue cards was done on the recommendations of Akali jathedars and not on the approval of the concerned authorities.
Punjab State Board for De-addiction and Rehabilitation Defunct
On another query raised by Sunil Jakhar, Health Minister, Surjit Kumar Jiani accepted that the Punjab State Board for De-addiction and Rehabilitation has been lying defunct since its constitution.
Jiyani admitted that no meeting of the board consisting 18 members has been conducted till date. He said that a meeting of the board was convened on February 29, 2016 but due to unavoidable circumstances the meeting could not take place. Finding Jiyani in a tough corner, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal intervened in the matter and said that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had been taking separate meetings with members of the boards.
Sewerage problems in Banga to be addressed soon
Replying to a question raised by Congress MlA Tarlochan Singh, local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi said that the job of sewerage links in Banga would be completed by September 2016. He said that the ongoing problem of sewerage failure in Banga would be got addressed in a day or two.
Batala included in mega infrastructure project
Informing about the inclusion of Batala in the turnkey project to improve the basic infrastructure of the city, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said that 45 cities of the State have been included in the project of sanitation. He said that under the turnkey project to improve the basic infrastructure of cities, a fund of Rs150 crore has been approved for Batala, with this the sewerage, water supply, roads and street lights in the city would be improved.
He said that the sewerage project will start at the ground level within next two months.