First Cabinet meet, first decision | Bhagwant Mann throws open 25,000 government jobs in Punjab

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday inducted 10 ministers, including a woman in his Cabinet, who were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Banwarilal Purohit here.

Mr. Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 10 newly inducted Cabinet ministers in the presence of Mr. Mann here at Punjab ‘Raj Bhawan’.

The Cabinet ministers who were sworn in include — Mr. Harpal Singh Cheema, Ms. Baljit Kaur, Mr. Harbhajan Singh, Mr. Vijay Singla, Mr. Lal Chand, Mr. Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Mr. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Mr. Laljit Singh Bhullar, Mr. Bram Shanker Jimpa and Mr. Harjot Singh Bains. The portfolios are yet to be allotted.

Apart from Mr. Cheema, who was the leader of Opposition in the last State 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.

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Later, the Cabinet in its maiden meeting, chaired by the Chief Minister gave approval for providing 25,000 government jobs to the youth in various departments, boards and corporations of the State government.

An official statement said that out of the total 25,000 government jobs, 10,000 would be offered for various posts in Punjab Police whereas the remaining 15,000 jobs would be given in other departments. The process of advertisement and notification of these jobs would be initiated within a month, it added.

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The Cabinet also cleared the presentation of supplementary demands for grants for the year 2021-22 to be presented in the ensuing state Assembly session. This decision would provide 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.

Also, the approval was given 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 state Assembly as per the provisions under Rule 164 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Punjab Legislative Assembly, it added.