Special family pension for widows of govt employees

Saturday, 21/10/2017

http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=182262&boxid=58975&uid=&dat=2017-10-21

Chandigarh : Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday restored the special family pension for widows of government employees killed by extremists.

He also agreed to extend the Red Card scheme to families of police personnel killed during the militancy period in the state.

The special pension scheme was revoked by the erstwhile Akali government in 2016.

Singh announced that the pension under the scheme would be made available to widows till their death as against the earlier provision of it being provided until their remarriage.

Acceding to requests by families of police martyrs, the chief minister said they would get the Red Cards, so far being issued only to civilian victims of terrorism, with immediate effect.

He also promised the families that their demand for posting of their children, recruited in the armed police, near their home districts would be sympathetically considered by the government, an official statement said here.

Singh was speaking on the eve of Martyrs Day at the Punjab Police headquarters here. Pointing out that the state had a total of 1,600 martyrs, including Special Police Officers (SPOs) and Home Guards, the senior Congress leader reiterated his government’s commitment to the welfare of the forces and their families, including the families of martyred personnel.

Govt approves hike in income limit of OBCs

Chandigarh: Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has approved an increase in the gross annual income limit for the creamy layer of the Other Backward Classes and Backward Classes from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.

The decision is in line with the central government’s directive to ensure greater social justice and inclusion of members of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Backward Classes in the matter of reservation, an official spokesperson said. The Union Cabinet had, in August this year, decided to raise the income limit from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh per annum for determining the creamy layer among the Other Backward Classes. This was the fourth revision of the creamy layer, which was fixed at Rs 1 lakh in 1993 and subsequently hiked to Rs 2.5 lakh in 2004, Rs 4.5 lakh in 2008 and Rs 6 lakh in 2013.

The move is reported to be aimed at ensuring more equitable distribution of reservation benefits among the OBCs. The decks have now been cleared for issuance of the necessary notification by the department of welfare of scheduled castes, backward classes and minorities, the spokesman said.