Punjab to create separate cadre for BBMB posts

Amid concerns about the loosening grip of Punjab over the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), the state government has decided to carve out a separate cadre of employees to be sent to the body on deputation.

The decision was taken in the meeting of the Punjab Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann here today. The decision comes close on the heels of the Centre’s move to appoint two new members in the BBMB — one each from Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan — and handing over the security of the Bhakra and Nangal dams to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

Till a few months ago, the responsibility for securing the dams was with the Punjab Police. For the past several years, a number of sanctioned posts for employees from Punjab have been lying vacant.

Of the total 3,043 posts for Punjab in the board, 1,784 have been lying vacant.

This is largely due to two main reasons — the employees ordered to be sent on deputation to the BBMB return to the parent cadre within no time and secondly, some of these posts like blacksmiths, concrete finishers and auto mechanics have become redundant over the years.

Of the 1,784 vacant posts of the Punjab quota, 1,523 are to be filled from among employees of the Water Resources Department. As many as 87 have to be filled from the Health Department, 60 from Education, 12 from Accountant General’s office and the rest from Finance, Technical Education, Sports and Local Government Departments.

Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said the vacant posts allotted to the Punjab Government were now filled by BBMB by taking employees from either Haryana or Himachal Pradesh.

“Since Punjab has a 60 per cent stake in the BBMB, we bear 60 per cent of the cost of operations. But now most of the posts are filled by employees coming on deputation from other states. But the Punjab Government ends up paying salaries of these employees from other states. It has thus been decided to create a separate cadre for BBMB posts and fill these at the earliest,” he said, adding that the cadre strength will be 2,458.

Vidhan Sabha session at Anandpur Sahib on Nov 24

The Punjab Cabinet on Saturday accorded approval to the summoning of a special Vidhan Sabha Session at Anandpur Sahib, dedicated to the 350th martyrdom day of Guru Tegh Bahadur. The session will be held on November 24. This is the first time that the Vidhan Sabha session will be held outside the Punjab Assembly here in Chandigarh.

Other Cabinet decisions

- 311 nurses to be recruited by the Health and Family Welfare Department

- Will revive 16 vacant posts of Child Development Project Officers through the PPSC

- Retirement age enhanced from 62 to 65 for medical and dental faculty

- Green signal to Navi Disha Scheme under which free sanitary napkins to be provided to women

- 51 posts okayed for Community Health Centre, Doraha

- Policy approved for allowing fragmentation of industrial plots of PUDA on same lines as allowed in Industrial Focal Points. Plots can be divided into two or more smaller units. Minimum area of each subdivided plots should be over 500 sq yards