A day after the Congress high command publicly said that it has directed Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to work on implementing the party's 18 key poll manifesto promises within a timeframe, the chief minister set the ball rolling.
Captain Singh is racing against time as the assembly elections in Punjab are due in February-March next year.
Participating in state-level celebrations on Bhagat Kabir Ji Jayanti in Jalandhar through video conferencing, the Chief Minister listed the various welfare schemes for the underprivileged being implemented by his government.
The state has a Scheduled Caste population of 31.9 per cent and the three-member panel, appointed to resolve the Punjab crisis, had also recommended representation of every section in the state cabinet.
Referring to the post matric Scheduled Caste scholarship scheme, Captain Singh said that his government had released 100 per cent scholarship funds during the academic session of 2020-21, and had also amicably resolved the issue of pending payments with private colleges, which had been told not to withhold the roll number of any student.
The government had come under a sharp attack from opposition parties like Aam Aadmi Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal over the delay in release of post matric scholarships.
Later in the evening, the chief minister constituted an Oversight Committee of Ministers to resolve the grievances of the employees of the state government.
"The committee shall comprise of KAP Sinha, Vivek Pratap Singh and Husan Lal, who are all senior IAS officers of the rank of Principal Secretary. The officers committee shall regularly meet the employees and attempt to resolve their grievances. It shall submit its report to the Oversight Committee for appropriate decision," read a statement issued by the Punjab government.
The state government is facing protests from employees from different departments. Earlier during the day, para-athletes of various disciplines held a protest near Captain Singh's official residence demanding jobs. The police dispersed them and detained them briefly.
The chief minister later spoke to the protesting athletes. "Have asked the Sports Department to bring a policy before the Council of Ministers for providing employment to para sportspersons who have brought laurels to our state and country. Our government is fully committed for the welfare of our sportspersons," Captain Singh tweeted.
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