CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government Monday unveiled a transfer policy for the school teachers appointed by the Zila Parishads to enable them to be posted at the places of their choice. Under the proposed policy, unmarried girls, physically challenged and persons with the special dispensation would be given preference.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held here at Punjab Bhawan under the Chairmanship of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal with a delegation of the Punjab Mulazam Front led by its President Mr.Surinder Singh Pehalwan.  Badal asked the Education Secretary to invite applications from the willing teachers who want to seek transfers indicating their choice of their station.  He however said that after this nobody would be allowed to be transferred. The Chief Minister observed that the frequent transfers not only hampered the functioning of the schools but also mounted lot of pressure on the Government by way of wastage of time and energy.

Conceding the demands of the Punjab Mulazam Front, Badal asked the Finance and Personnel Departments to jointly examine the demands pertaining to regularization of the adhoc and work charged employees with in the parameters of the laid down guidelines of the Supreme Court. He also said that the State Government would soon initiate the process to launch recruitment drive to fill 10,000 vacant posts of School teachers on regular basis in a transparent manner.  He also directed the department of Personnel to find ways and means to reinstate the Panchayat Secretaries, Home guards, SPOs and Computer teachers who were dismissed from the service by the previous government.

He also asked the Principal Secretary Cooperation to finalize the modalities for the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for the employees of the Cooperative Sugar Mills that had been shut down due to the lack of adequate financial resources and optimum crushing capacity there by rendering these mills un-viable. In the mean time, till the VRS was made operative the employees who had not been paid salaries for the months together should be immediately paid salary for atleast two months to overcome their financial crisis.  He also asked the concerned departments to ensure promotions of the employees within a timeframe and agreed to refer the proposal of Contributory Pension Scheme to the employees that had been made operative from January 1, 2004 to the GoI for reconsideration because this Scheme had been implemented by the State Government on the behest of Centre.

The Chief Minister informed the members of the Front that the terms and conditions of the Fifth Punjab Pay Commission would be notified shortly. He also directed the Finance Department to refer the demands of employees with regard to grant of promotional scale of 4-9-14 years from 1-1-1996, enhancement of the fixed medical allowance from Rs 350 to Rs 500 per month and allowing the benefit of revised formula of commutation of pension to the pensioners who retired between the period from 29 th July 2003 to 31st October 2006 to the Fifth Pay Commission.  

The Chief Minister also directed the Power, Transport and Finance Secretaries to hold separate meetings with the members of the front to evolve broad consensus for the resolution of long pending employee's demands and issues.   He also assured the delegation that their other genuine demands including the job to the employees on compassionate grounds especially in Punjab State Electricity Board and computation & maintenance of GPF accounts of health department at the level of Drawing & Disbursing Officer would be considered sympathetically. 

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Finance DS Kalha, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister DS Guru, Principal Secretary Transport DS Jaspal, Principal Secretary Cooperation Kusumjit Sidhu, Secretary Power Suresh Kumar, Secretary Rural Development, Panchayats & Planning Satish Chandra, besides Secretary General Hardev Singh Raipur and Incharge Nachatar Singh of the Mulazam front.