50% marks in Punjabi eligibility test made mandatory to secure govt job in Punjab

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Chandigarh, October 21

The Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday gave nod to amend Rule 17 of the Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of services) Rules, 1994, and the Punjab State (Group-D) Service Rules, 1963, to ensure that only those candidates are appointed in the Punjab Government who have knowledge of the Punjabi language.

Key cabinet decisions

• The Cabinet gave the approval to abolish the existing 23 posts of Assistant Commissioner (Grievances) with the creation of a similar number of new posts of Chief Minister’s Field Officer at the district level.
• The Cabinet also approved the scheme for compassionate appointment to the wards of the deceased employees of the PSEB (now PSPCL), who had passed away before April 16, 2010. The grant shall be applicable to only those whose kin died before April 4, 2010
• Approval given to exempt specially-designed vehicles that carry the ‘Parkash’ of religious scriptures of different religions in the state from the Motor Vehicle Taxes

Officials in the CMO said under the Rule 17 of the Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of Service) Rules, amendment has been made so that a candidate appointed to any post in Group-C services should have passed the qualifying test of the Punjabi language equivalent to matriculation standard with at least 50 per cent marks, to be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies in addition to the competitive examination.

Similarly, any candidate appointed to any post in any service by direct appointment has to pass the qualifying test of Punjabi language equivalent to middle standard with at least 50 per cent marks, to be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies in addition to the competitive examination.

The test of Punjabi language shall be a mandatory qualifying test and failing to secure a score of minimum 50 per cent will disqualify the candidate from being considered in the final merit list, irrespective of their scores in other papers of the respective exam.

Besides, to check illegal mining in the state, the Cabinet also gave nod to amend Rule 7.5 of the Punjab Minor Minerals Rules, 2013, thereby enhancing the slab of penalty from existing Rs 5,000-Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh.

With a view to cut down financial expenditure and administrative burden in the state, the Cabinet also gave approval to amend Section 3 (1) of the Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1961, to abolish the posts of Vice-Chairman and Senior Vice-Chairman in the Punjab Mandi Board. The posts of Vice-Chairman and Senior Vice Chairman were created in 2010 and 2016, respectively.