The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Monday gave nod to reduction in the discretionary grant…
Photo:SNS
The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Monday gave nod to reduction in the discretionary grant of the CM from Rs 50 crore to Rs 37 crore and of all its ministers from Rs 1.5 crore per annum to Rs one crore per annum.
The discretionary grant of the Punjab Assembly Speaker, too, has been reduced from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs one crore.
Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said the decision was taken as the panchayats across the state had a lot of unused funds, given to them by the 15th Finance Commission.
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“We want that these funds be used for the development works, rather than using the discretionary funds of ministers,” he said.
This is for the second time during this calendar year that the discretionary grants of the ministers have been reduced. In January, the discretionary grants of cabinet ministers were reduced from Rs Three Crore (given during the Congress government) to Rs 1.5 Crore. During Congress rule, the ministers used to get Rs 5 crore as discretionary grant. The discretionary grant of the Chief Minister was then fixed at Rs 50 Crore.
As per the Policy of Disbursement of Discretionary Grants by Chief Minister and Cabinet Ministers for the financial year 2023-24, these funds are to be judiciously utilized for new and repair of existing basic infrastructure, environment improvement and fulfilling the basic needs of the poor residing in Punjab.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved appointment of visiting faculty in the government schools of the state. In the first phase visiting faculty will be appointed in the 117 government schools of the state and then it will be replicated in the other schools. Persons who have retired as teaching faculty from any government or private school,college or university will be eligible for the proposed Visiting Resource Faculty Scheme.
The Cabinet also gave its consent for sending the case of four prisoners for seeking the premature release of life convicts confined in the jails of the state and one other for rejecting such premature release.
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