Punjab to amend law that stops MLAs from holding office of profit
Decision based on recommendations of Punjab Governance Reforms and Ethics Commission
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab cabinet on Wednesday paved the way for MLAs to hold several new categories of office of profit by approving some amendments to the Punjab State Legislature (Prevention of Disqualification) Act 1952.
It’s seen as a move to placate some disgruntled legislators of the ruling party as the amendment will allow them to hold several key posts in the state boards and corporations and other bodies considered as office of profit.
The amendments will also protect the MLAs from disqualification in certain additional cases of office of profit, apart from the ones included in the original Act.
The Congress, which has been running the government in Punjab since March 2017, has 78 legislators in the 117-member assembly. But only 18 of them, including the chief minister, hold ministerial berths. This has led to a lot of discontent among Congress MLAs who could not make it into the cabinet.
Party sources said with the amendment, at least 20 party MLAs could be adjusted on key positions. “The cabinet has passed a memorandum giving all powers to the CM to approve the ordinance which at a later stage will be passed in the assembly,” parliamentary affairs minister Brahm Mohindra told HT.
Various HCs have come down on lawmakers for holding office of profit. 21 lawmakers of the AAP in Delhi were disqualified by a court last year for this.
CHANDIGARH: In a bid to bridge the revenue and fiscal deficits, and to raise funds for the cashcrunched state exchequer, the Punjab cabinet on Wednesday approved disinvestment of three loss-making public sector units (PSUs) — Punjab Communications Limited (Puncom), Punjab Financial Corporation (PFC) and Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC).
The decision is based on the recommendations of the Punjab Governance Reforms and Ethics Commission (PGREC), it is learnt.
The process will be carried out by a core group of officers under the chairmanship of the chief secretary, along with a transaction adviser, said a spokesman after a meeting of the council of ministers, chaired by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh.
Besides the chief secretary, the core group will include principal secretary, finance; principal secretary to the chief minister; administrative secretary of the department concerned; and managing director of the PSUs concerned.
The director of public enterprises and disinvestment will be member-convener. A report will be submitted to the cabinet for the final decision.
The cabinet, which felt the disinvestment will help in raising funds for capital expenditure and infrastructure development, noted that the state earned only Rs 4.9 crore as dividend in 2017-18 from its 50-odd PSUs, while the state’s resources locked up in these PSUs amount to Rs 7,614 crore, thus
not making financial sense.
Outstanding government loans of these PSUs are Rs 25,393 crore, and unpaid loan against
government guarantee stands at Rs 18,312 crore, as on March 31, 2018 (approximate figures provided by spokesperson).