Punjab govt convenes special session of Assembly on Monday

A day-long session of the Punjab Assembly has been convened by the state government on Monday wherein it will bring in ordinances for implementing a slew of poll-centric sops, including regularising 30,000 contractual employees, in the absence of opposition Congress, sources said.

The government summoned the Assembly session to give legislative backing to its earlier decisions after Governor V P Singh Badnore reportedly conveyed that he would be more comfortable in giving assent to the legislation if the Assembly passed the ordinances in the form of a Bill, sources said.

The government will hold the one-day session in the absence of 42 Congress MLAs who have resigned recently in the wake of Supreme Court ruling ordering status quo on the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal project.

Also, six SAD legislators have switched over to Congress or resigned from the Assembly after denial of ticket will not attend the proceedings.

Independent MLAs and brothers Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjeet Singh Bains had also resigned last month.

Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) sources today said these employees were hired on contract, ad hoc, daily wages, temporary or work charge basis by the education, health, medical education and local government departments.

If the regularisation is done, it will benefit the employees.

The decision to call a special session has been taken exactly a month after the government held a day-long emergency session on November 16 to legally and politically counter the Apex Court verdict’s fall out on the inter-state water dispute.

Sources said the legislations on the anvil during the session included the ordinance giving legal sanctity to regularising 30,000 employees, Punjab Regulation of Fees of Unaided Education Institutions Ordinance, 2016, the ordinance appointing senior vice chairmen in different boards and corporations, and the Punjab School Education Board Act, 1969 to be amended through promulgation of Punjab School Education Board (Amendment) ordinance, 2016 for the appointments of its chairman from the IAS or Punjab Civil Services (PCS) officers.