Punjab govt approves fin aid to women acid attack victims

The Captain Amarinder Singh cabinet today decided to provide Rs 8,000 as financial aid to women victims of the acid attacks.

The cabinet also took a slew of other important decisions including gave its nod for formulation of a new policy to provide compensation to the martyrs from the Army, the para military forces, the Punjab Police and to the victims of accidents or fire incidents.

It also decided to rename the 'Shagun Scheme' as 'Ashirwad scheme'. Under the 'Shagun scheme' financial help of Rs 15,000 is provided for marriage of daughter, who is above 18 years, to poor families of Punjab.

Under the proposed 'The Punjab Financial Assistance to Acid Victims Scheme 2017', women victims of acid attacks will be provided Rs 8,000 per month per head aid by the Department of Social Security and Development of Women and Children, Punjab, an official spokesman said here.

The proposal, to which the cabinet gave its approval, will enable the victims or their family members/relatives to apply for the aid to the District Social Security Officer of the concerned district.

The sanctioning authority will be a District Level Committee under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner, and the victim will receive the payment directly in her bank account, the spokesman said.

Besides approving the change of name of 'Shagun Scheme' to 'Ashirwad Scheme', the cabinet also gave the go-ahead to online payment to the beneficiaries, directly into their bank accounts.

The cabinet also decided to extend the contract of the Pharmacists working as service providers and class IV employees in 1,186 Subsidiary Health Centres of Zila Parishads in Rural Development and Panchayats Department.

The extension will be for one year, from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018, or till regular recruitment (whichever is earlier) at the existing rates of Rs 7,000 and Rs 3,000 per month respectively, the spokesman said.

In recognition of the sacrifice made by former chief minister late Beant Singh to end terrorism and maintain peace and harmony in the state, the Punjab cabinet also approved the appointment of his grandson Guriqbal Singh as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in the Police department against the direct quota post.

The service rules have been relaxed to enable the appointment as a special case, said the spokesman.

The cabinet also decided to grant extension to Advisor Civil Aviation Captain Abhay Chandra for a period of five years from May 10, 2017 to May 9, 2022, to carry out VIP flying operations besides handling other important issues of the Department of Civil Aviation.

The cabinet further ratified and granted ex-post facto approval to the appointment of Senior Advocate Atul Nanda as Advocate General of Punjab.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)