The Punjab Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday gave its nod to amend rules to ensure only those candidates are appointed to the state government’s Group C and D posts who have in-depth knowledge of the Punjabi language. The decision is aimed at further cementing the ethos of Punjab, Punjabi, and Punjabiat in the state, an official statement said.

“The cabinet gave nod for amending Rule 17 of Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of services) Rules, 1994 and Punjab State (Group D) Service Rules 1963 with an aim to ensure that only those candidates are appointed in the Punjab government who have in-depth knowledge of Punjabi language,” it said.

It said that in rule 17 of the Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994, the first proviso, for the words “Provided that where a person”, has been replaced with “Provided that no person shall be appointed to any post in Group-‘C’ service unless he has passed a qualifying test of Punjabi language equivalent to matriculation standard with at least 50%  marks, to be conducted by respective recruitment agencies in addition to competitive examination.” 

The test of Punjabi language shall be a mandatory qualifying test and failure to secure a minimum of 50%  marks in Punjabi will disqualify the candidate from being considered in the final merit list of candidates irrespective of their marks in other papers of the respective exam.

“Similarly as per amendment in clause (d) of the Rule 5, in the Punjab State (Group-D) Service Rules, 1963, the words ‘provided that’ has been replaced with ‘Provided that no person shall be appointed to any post in any service by direct appointment unless he has passed a qualifying test of Punjabi language equivalent to middle standard with at least 50% marks,” it said.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

In another decision, the Punjab cabinet gave its nod to exempt specially designed vehicles for carrying the “Parkash” of religious scriptures of different religions in the state from Motor Vehicle Taxes (MVT).

There are around 25,000 such vehicles in the state. The MVT under section 13 (3) of the Punjab Motor Vehicle Taxation Act, 1924 of such vehicles is around Rs 10,000 per annum. The state government has decided to exempt these vehicles from the tax. The move is likely to cause a financial implication of about Rs 20 crore to Rs 25 crore to the government.

To check illegal mining in the state, the Cabinet also decided to amend rule 7.5 of the Punjab Minor Minerals Rules, 2013, to enhance the slab of penalty from ₹5,000- ₹25,000 to ₹50,000 to ₹2.5 lakh.

The Cabinet also agreed to amend Section 3 (1) of ‘The Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act 1961’ to abolish the posts of vice-chairperson and senior vice-chairperson in the Punjab Mandi Board. The posts of vice-chairperson and senior vice-chairperson were created in 2010 and 2016, respectively.