Ten MLAs, including a woman, were inducted in the the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Saturday.
Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 10 Ministers in the presence of Mr. Mann at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan here.
The Cabinet Ministers who were sworn in are Harpal Singh Cheema, Baljit Kaur, Harbhajan Singh, Vijay Singla, Lal Chand, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Laljit Singh Bhullar, Bram Shanker Jimpa and Harjot Singh Bains. The portfolios are yet to be allotted.
Apart from Mr. Cheema, who was the Leader of the Opposition in the last Assembly and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, the eight others are first-time MLAs. The Punjab Cabinet can have a maximum of 18 members, including the Chief Minister.
Later, the Cabinet, in its maiden meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, gave approval for providing 25,000 jobs in various departments, boards and corporations of the State government.
An official statement said that of the 25,000 jobs, 10,000 are in the Punjab Police and the remaining in other departments. The process of advertisement and notification of these jobs would be initiated within a month, it added.
The Cabinet also cleared the presentation of supplementary demands for grants for the year 2021-22 to be presented in the ensuing Assembly session. This decision would provide the budget for additional or excess expenditure incurred by various departments during the financial year 2021-22 to liquidate the pending liabilities. Further, in accordance with the provisions contained in Clause (3) of Article 203 of the Constitution of India, the Cabinet also gave approval to present the supplementary demands for grants of the government of Punjab for the year 2021-22, it said.
The Cabinet also gave approval for presentation of the statement of estimated expenditure (Vote on Account) from April 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022 of the State of Punjab for the year 2022-23 mandated to be presented in the Assembly as per the provisions under Rule 164 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Punjab Legislative Assembly, the statement added.
