Workers’ wage hike awaiting finance dept’s nod: Singla
CHANDIGARH: School education minister Vijay Inder Singla on Wednesday said a proposal to hike the monthly honorarium of 42,205 mid-day meal cooks-cumhelpers to ₹3,000 was awaiting the approval of the finance department.
Replying to a query during the question hour on the last day of the budget session of the Punjab assembly, Singla said the school education department had submitted the proposal for increase in their honorarium to the finance department. Cooks-cumhelpers get ₹1,700 per month for 10 months in a year at present.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Aman Arora had asked the school education minister about the working conditions of cookscum-helpers engaged under the mid-day meal programme and the timeframe for the increase in their honorarium. The member also asked if such a meagre amount was fair. “Their abysmally low wages are a violation of human rights and they should be paid as per the deputy commissioner rate,” the member said.
In response, Singla said they prepare and distribute mid-day meals for approximately 15.85 lakh children daily. “The government had increased the honorarium from ₹1,200 to ₹1,700. We are concerned about them and have already moved the proposal,” the minister said. However, he refused to fix any timeframe for the increase in honorarium. the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) due to nonrelease of funds by the Centre. He said all pending payments will be cleared on release of funds.
The minister stated this in a written reply to Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Congress MLA Angad Singh’s question regarding the steps being taken to clear the pending wages of workers under the scheme in his constituency. The minister said payment of wages in the district had been cleared till January 20, 2020.
‘GOVT WILL IMPLEMENT POLL PROMISES IN 5 YRS’
Replying to Akalimla Pawan Kumar Tinu’s question whether any proposal was under consideration to enhance the old-age, widow and disability pensions from ₹750 to ₹2,500, social security, women and child development minister Aruna Chaudhary said the present government had enhanced the monthly pension from ₹500 to ₹750 from July 2017 and a further enhancement to ₹1,500 is under consideration. Tinu reminded the minister about her party’s poll manifesto to increase it to Rs 2,500. “In the election manifesto, we promised ₹1,500 per month, not ₹2,500. We raised it after forming the government, but you (Akalis) had kept it at ₹250 for 9 years and increased it to ₹500 only in the last year of your government,” she said.
Medical teams have been deputed at the Amritsar and Mohali airports for screening of passengers.
BALBIR SINGH SIDHU, health and family welfare minister