Punjab decides to hike MBBS fee in govt, private colleges

With the massive surge in the price index in the years thereafter, these colleges are facing fiscal problems and are unable to meet the norms of Medical Council of India, thus necessitating a fee hike

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the state government has decided to hike the fee for MBBS course in government and private colleges despite protests by the students.

The Cabinet gave its nod to the decision of the government on Wednesday. A government statement said the decision was necessary to ensure better medical education and infrastructure facilities forstudents.

The statement added that the fee for the MBBS course in the state for Government Medical Colleges was last notified in 2015 and for Private Medical Colleges in 2014. With the massive surge in the price index in the years thereafter, these colleges are facing fiscal problems and are unable to meet the norms of Medical Council of India, thus necessitating a fee hike.

These colleges had, in fact, been seeking fee hike for a long time as they were facing hardships to provide good infrastructure and impart quality education to the students at the current fee rates. The decision was not taken as the students were protesting on the plea that the government medical colleges were charging much less fee. The government has decided to burden the students of government and private colleges both.

Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal had earlier said that the colleges’ fee was not enough for the colleges to run. Therefore, it was necessary to hike the fee.

Lockdown

The Punjab government will decide on the future course of action with respect to the lockdown in the state on May 30.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will chair a review meeting with the departments concerned on the overall Covid situation in the state on May 30, and announce the government’s decision on lifting or further extending lockdown thereafter.

The Cabinet concluded that the decision should be taken after on-ground assessment of the situation a couple of days before the current lockdown is due to end. Any decision on extension, with or withoutrelaxations, will be taken after the review meeting.

Appreciation for Food Department 

The Cabinet complimented the Food & Civil Supplies Department on ensuring seamless procurement of wheat during Rabi Marketing Season 2020-21, especially amid the trying COVID-19 and lockdown situation.

The Cabinet also placed on record its appreciation for Food & Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu for successfully accomplishing the gigantic task of wheat procurement in nearly 4,000 mandis across the state while strictly adhering to the health and social distancing protocols for the safety and well-being of all stakeholders.

While lauding the smooth procurement operations in this difficult phase, Captain Amarinder said that it was really satisfying that the entire department of Food & Civil Supplies and Punjab Mandi Board worked day and night to ensure elaborate arrangements in a record time of just one and a half month. To avoid crowding and congestion in the mandis, the Punjab Mandi Board had issued 17.34 lakh passes to thefarmers through Aarthiyas to bring their produce in a staggered manner.

As of May 26, a total of 126.80 LMT wheat had been procured by various agencies, of which 123.64 LMT had been lifted and payment to the tune of Rs 21,004.68 crore made so far to the farmers.

Fiscal Stimulus 

The Punjab government has decided to seek a fiscal stimulus of Rs 51,102 crore from the Government of India, to help the state tide over the financial crisis triggered by the Covid pandemic and the prolonged lockdown.

A draft memorandum to this effect was approved on Wednesday by the Council of Ministers as they authorised the Chief Minister to make necessary amendments to the draft memorandum before submitting it to the Government of India.

In addition to direct fiscal stimulus of Rs 21,500 crore, the state government plans to seek waiver of the long-term CCL debt as imperative for the fiscal recovery of the state government.

Additionally, all Central schemes should be 100% funded by the Government of India in FY 2020-21, as per the draft memorandum.

The state proposes to ask for Rs 6,603 crore for improvement of the public health infrastructure from a long-term perspective. This also included sanction for setting up of Advanced Centre of Virology at a

cost of Rs 650 crore in the state, for which the Punjab government has already offered required land free of charge.

To contain the Covid-19 contagion in the rural areas, assistance of Rs 5,068 crore has been sought in the draft memorandum for liquid and solid waste management in the villages, in addition to upward revision of capital outlay and targets under MGNREGA.

The memorandum further seeks Rs 12,560 crore for the agriculture and farming sector, mainly for up-gradation of farm gate infrastructure, providing income support, interest subvention, etc., with an additional amount of Rs 1,161 crore identified as assistance needed for the animal husbandry and dairy sector.

Additional Borrowing 

With the state staring at 30 per cent shortfall in revenue receipts in FY 2020-21, the Council of Ministers on Wednesday gave in-principle approval to a slew of reforms to make Punjab eligible to avail additional borrowing of 1.5 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) amid COVID-19, as mandated by the Government of India.

A committee will be set up to ensure proper monitoring of the implementation of the reforms, of which the Administrative Departments will ensure completion within the time frame stipulated by the Centre, since the additional borrowing limit is available only for Financial Year 2020-21, said a government statement.

Elaborating on the reform measures to be undertaken by various administrative departments, the spokesperson said that the Food & Civil Supplies Department would ensure implementation of One Nation

One Ration Card System, having weightage of 0.25%, through Aadhar seeding of all the ration cards and beneficiaries in the State, in addition to automation of all the FPSs in the dtate by December 31,2020.

The Cabinet also approved implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) (SBM-G) Phase II across the state, in convergence with 15th Finance Commission Grants (FCG), MGNREGA and other Central/State

sponsored schemes, while approving utilisation of FCG funds for universal coverage of rural households with Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

The Cabinet also okayed the Rural Transformation Strategy at a cost of Rs 5,655 crore, to ensure adequate availability of funds for development of rural infrastructure and individual beneficiaries

through convergence of funds under its various schemes and programmes, such as such as MGNREGS, Smart Village Campaign (SVC), PMAY-G, as also the funds such as Finance Commission (FC) grants, RDF and panchayats’ own funds.