The Amarinder Singhled Congress government in Punjab plans to unveil its budget for the state for 2021- 22 on 8 March.

A Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, on Friday approved summoning of the 14th Session (Budget Session) of the 15th Punjab Assembly from 1 March to 10 March and recommended it to Governor VP Singh Badnore, who is authorised to officially summon the State Legislature as per Article 174(1) of the Constitution.

An official spokesperson said after the Cabinet meeting that the CM has been authorised to approve the Governor’s address for 14th Session of the 15th Punjab Assembly. Besides the Punjab budget estimates for the next fiscal, the upcoming Assembly session will see the presentation of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year 2018-19 (civil, commercial) and financial accounts of the Government of Punjab for the year 2019-20, as well as Appropriation Accounts for the year 2019-20.

Supplementary demands for grants for the year 2020-21 and Appropriation Bill on supplementary demands for grants for the year 2020-21 will also be laid on the table of the House. Meanwhile, the Punjab government has approved special provisions in the rules to provide government jobs to one of the family members of each of the four minors killed in the Maur Mandi bomb blast of 31 January, 2017.

The decision was taken on Friday by the Council of Ministers at a meeting chaired by the CM. It was decided at the Cabinet meeting to grant special provision to provide jobs, on compassionate grounds, as per the educational qualifications of one member each of the families of the deceased, Japsimaran Singh (15), Sourav Singla (14), Ankush (11) and Ripandeep Singh (9).

The existing rules did not provide for employment in state service on compassionate grounds for minor deceased. With the Cabinet decision today, the relevant rules/policy have been relaxed to provide jobs to a member each as per their educational qualification in Bathinda district or adjoining districts against direct quota vacant posts as a special case (without treating it as a precedent). The jobs provided by the state government are in addition to the financial grant of Rs five lakh each to the families of each of the deceased persons.

The injured have got Rs. 50,000/- each from the Chief Minister’s Relief fund. Seven persons were killed and 13 injured in the bomb blast incident at Maur Mandi in Bathinda district.

The state government had earlier provided government jobs to the next of kin of two deceased, Harpal Singh and Ashok Kumar Babu Ram, as per the existing policy, since both were the breadwinners of their families.