PUNJAB REVERTS TO PPSC RECRUITMENT FOR JEs IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT & PANCHAYATS DEPT

APPROVES REVISION OF PAY SCALE OF TAX COLLECTORS WORKING IN PANCHAYAT SAMITIS

Chandigarh, December 17:
The Captain Amarinder Singh led government has decided to revert to Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), Patiala, for recruitment of 81 posts of Junior Engineer in the Engineering Wing of the Rural Development & Panchayats Department.

The state government had earlier taken these posts out of PPSC purview and engaged Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology [TIET], Patiala, for the purpose of recruitment. This was as per the one-time measure approved at the Cabinet meeting on January 31, 2020, for engaging Thapar University, Patiala, or Maharaja Ranjit Singh University, Bathinda, one of the independent agencies as notified by Department of Co-ordination.

TIET could not, however, hold the written test due to Covid. Subsequently, the Finance Department notified new pay scales on July 17, 2020 and the process of recruitment through TIET, Patiala, was put in abeyance.

On Thursday, the state cabinet, at a virtual meeting chaired by Chief Minister
Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, decided that these 81 posts (79 JE Civil and 2 JE Electrical), created after the restructuring of its Engineering Wing, would now be filled as part of the common recruitment process initiated by the PPSC along with vacant posts of JEs in other departments, in line with the Cabinet decision of October 14, 2020.

PAY SCALE OF TAX COLLECTORS WORKING IN PANCHAYAT SAMITIS REVISED
The Cabinet on Thursday also approved revision in pay scales of Tax Collectors working in Panchayat Samitis under the Rural Development & Panchayats Department from the existing pay scale of Rs.5910-20200+2400 (Grade Pay) to 10300-34800+3600 (Grade Pay). These revised pay scales would be implemented from the date of issuance of orders, and would result in additional expenditure of Rs. 9 Lakh per annum to the state exchequer.

It may be recalled that in accordance with the Punjab Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishads Services Rules 1965 (Appendix-A at serial number 7), the posts of Tax collectors are filled on promotion from amongst Panchayat Secretaries. However, the Tax Collectors have been working on pay scale (Rs. 5910-20200+2400) grade pay and Panchayat Secretaries on pay scale of 10300-34800+3200 grade pay, leading to a grave anomaly. Subsequently, the Cabinet has taken this decision to rectify the anomaly in the existing pay scales.