Chandigarh: Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today gave nod to the Policy for Welfare of Adhoc, Contractual, Daily Wages, Work Charged and Temporary employees thereby paving way for regularising the services of 14417 employees.
A decision to this effect was taken in a meeting of the Council of Ministers chaired by the Chief Minister here at the Punjab Civil Secretariat- I.
Divulging the details, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the services of 13,000 employees have already been regularised. Under the regime of the earlier Governments, various appointments to ‘Group C’ and ‘Group D’ level posts , have been made on contract/temporary basis on the basis of imminent requirement and exigencies of service. Some of such employees have now put in a period of 10 years and more with State and they have given their prime years of life in service of the State.
The Government has felt that now at this stage, to relieve them or to replace them in this capacity in service with another set of people will be unjustified and improper. Thus, being a Welfare State and to protect the interest of these contractual/ temporary employees, state has formulated the present policy, under Article 162 read with entry 41 of list-Il of the Seventh Schedule of Constitution of India, to ensure that such employees do not suffer from uncertainty and harassment and to grant them a security of tenure. The state has taken a policy decision to continue such desirous suitable employees, who fulfill the eligibility conditions, in service till the age of 58 years by placing them in a special cadre.
The employees who have worked on adhoc, contractual, daily wages, work charged or temporary basis for a continuous period of minimum ten years till the issuance of present policy will be regularized. The applicant must have the requisite qualification and experience for the post in terms of rules if any at the time of placement in the Special Cadre. The work and conduct of the applicant must have remained satisfactory as per the assessment of the department/employer during the period of 10 years service.
For calculation a period of ten years, the employee must have worked for a period of minimum 240 days in each of these ten calendar years and notional breaks will not be considered while calculating a period of ten years. For the purpose of grant of continuation to the contractual/ad-hoc/ temporary employees etc. and giving them security of tenure, subject to good work and conduct, till the age of 58 years, they will be placed on a post, which shall not be a cadre post, by creating special cadre of posts.
These employees will not be placed in the regular cadre of sanctioned posts in the service under the statutory service rules and will form a special cadre of posts created especially for them. The process of placement of beneficiary employee, subject to clause 2 and 3 of this Policy, shall commence on the submission of the Application Form by an employee seeking placement under this Policy. Application form must be accompanied with all required documents as prescribed and incomplete application form shall be liable to be summarily rejected.
GREEN SIGNAL TO PUNJAB STATE ADVENTURE TOURISM POLICY
The Cabinet also gave green signal to Punjab State Adventure Tourism Policy for attracting private investment in the stale. The Policy provides a transparent mechanism for approval of Adventure Tourism Projects which will be cleared only by an Empowered Committee chaired by the Chief Minister and the various parameters on which each project will be evaluated. A single-window system and ease of Inter- Departmental Coordination at various levels has been suitably incorporated in it.
As per the policy permissions to commence Adventure Sports in the State shall initially be given to recognized National Adventure Sport Federations as they are best equipped to handle the safety issues. As far as possible the sites shall be given free of cost for a period of two years in order to give an initial boost to the development of Adventure Tourism in the State. These sports are expected to generate a lot of local employment as well as overall economic upliftment of the area where these are organized.
GIVES NOD TO THE PUNJAB STATE WATER TOURISM POLICY
The Cabinet also gave nod to the Punjab State Water Tourism Policy which seeks to give a big boost for attracting private investment near Water Bodies in the state. The Policy provides a transparent mechanism for approval of Water Tourism Projects. Keeping in view the scarcity of water resources and the huge economic potential these offer, Water Tourism Projects are proposed to be cleared only by an Empowered Committee chaired by the Chief Minister. The Policy focuses on long term economic gain and the choice of projects shall depend on the future growth potential and their ability to boost the image of the State as a popular and “smart” tourist destination.