The Punjab cabinet on Thursday decided to create a separate cadre of teachers for the six border districts of Pathankot, Amritsar, Fazilka, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Gurdaspur.

The cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh has decided to seek the opinion of the state advocate-general on recruitment of teachers from their respective districts in the border cadre, which was cleared on Thursday by the state cabinet.

While some of the ministers suggested that border cadre teachers be recruited from the same districts, the CM advised that the matter be put up to the AG for his opinion.

The meeting also decided to set up a cabinet sub-committee to oversee the implementation of Right to Education (RTE) and to examine the suggestions of the education department on revamping the education system in government schools. The cabinet took serious note of the fact that private schools continued to deprive poor students of admission despite reservations for them under RTE.

The sub-committee, comprising Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, Higher Education Minister Aruna Chaudhary, Rural Development Minister Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, will submit its report within 15 days, an official spokesperson disclosed after the cabinet meeting.

To facilitate smooth and timely procurement of grains during the 2018-19 Rabi season, the Punjab cabinet has also given its nod to ‘The Punjab Food Grains Transportation Policy, 2018-19’ and ‘The Punjab Labour & Cartage Policy, 2018-19’.

The new policies will apply to the various procurement agencies of the State Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department. These include Pungrain, Markfed, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, Punsup, Punjab Agro Foodgrains Corporation and Food Corporation of India (FCI), which procure food grains from various designated centres/mandis.

To ensure full preparedness and hassle-free lifting during the Rabi 2018-19 procurement season, commencing from April 1, 2018, the cabinet has okayed the new policies for labour and cartage and transportation of wheat from mandis to the storage points. In another significant decision, the Cabinet also approved the draft notification regarding amendments to the Punjab Food Security Rules, 2016, to specify the provisions related to social audit.

The Union government has made the benefits available under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) a legal right by implementing the National Food Security Act-2013 (NFSA).

The Act was implemented in the Punjab in December 2013, under which the Punjab Government had notified Punjab Public Distribution System (Licensing and Control) Order, 2016 on April 22, 2016.