Chandigarh, Nov 10 (IANS) In a bid to provide financial relief to cotton farm labourers, the Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday approved the policy formulated for extending relief to the families of cotton-picking farm labourers affected by the damage caused to the crop by the pink bollworm disease.
With this decision, 10 per cent of total compensation to be given to the farmers on this count would be provided to the families of cotton picking farm labourers affected by the pest attack on cotton crop.
On the issue of Post-Matric SC Scholarship Scheme, the Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Charanjit Channi, deliberated up on the hardships faced by students who are beneficiaries of the scheme.
It was highlighted that this scheme was shared between the Centre and the state government in the ratio of 60:40. However, the Centre stopped giving its share from 2016 onwards under this scheme.
Resultantly, the Cabinet decided the state government would bear its liability of 40 per cent amounting to Rs 433.96 crore since 2017-18, to be released in two installments during 2021-22 and 2022-23.
The Cabinet also gave approval to scrap the fee capping, thereby keeping the fee of students belonging to the Scheduled Caste on par with the general category students.
A fire department officer said that a three-story residential building opposite to Robin cinema in Ghanta Ghar Sabzi Mandi near Malka Ganj in Delhi collapsed and the department received a call regarding it at 12 noon. As soon as the fire department received a call, seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot for rescue operations.
Calling the Congress as the only party who protested against these 'black' laws from the very first day, the Chief Minister said his government called an all-party meeting and then held consultations with farm unions.
The highly specialised medical services to be rolled out across the state by end November will prove to be a boon for people, especially the poor for whom expert private sector medical care is out of reach, he said.
The Minister while addressing the inaugural session of 'Connect Karo 2021 - Towards Equitable, Sustainable Indian Cities' event, said that there can be no doubt that India's cities "enabled by citizen-centric infrastructure and transformational technology" will be the key to achieving the nation's development objectives.
Meanwhile, India logged 27,254 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours. The country also reported 219 Covid deaths in the same time span. The country presently has nearly 3.75 lakh active cases.
At a virtual Covid-19 review meeting, the Chief Minister said vaccine effectiveness is evident from the data being analysed. Special efforts were made to reach out to the government employees, and those who continue to avoid getting vaccinated will now be asked to go on leave till they get the first dose.
