Chandigarh, November 19
The Punjab cabinet on Saturday evening raised the retirement age for teachers in government medical, dental and ayurvedic colleges from 60 to 62 years in order “to retain qualified medical teaching faculty in the state”. It also increased the age for re-employment for faculty members of these colleges from 65 years to 70 years . Teachers opting for re-employment would be entitled to their last pay drawn plus pension.

The cabinet meeting presided over by the Chief Minister also approved a solatium of Rupees three lakh per family for all labourers who have lost their livelihood because of the land acquired in Mansa for the Peona thermal plant. The labourers, who were left high and dry, have been agitating.

The cabinet approved the proposal to offer ‘a government job’ to the next of kin of those killed during the agitation against the land acquisition and also waive off their cooperative loans. The cabinet also cleared the proposal to amend the land acquisition policy in order to ensure that landless labourers are also compensated whenever land is acquired.

The cabinet also approved the recruitment of 31 posts of faculty in the Government Ayurvedic College Patiala including 6 Professors and Associate Professors, 4 Assistant Professors, Lecturers and Readers and 21 Demonstrators and Lecturers as per the norms of Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM).