Punjab amends law on 'office of profit' to accommodate MLAs
Chandigarh, June 27: To dodge the ruling of various courts on the issue of lawmakers holding an office of profit, 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.
The amendments will protect the MLAs from disqualification in certain additional cases of office of profit, apart from the ones included in the original Act, an official spokesperson disclosed after a Cabinet meeting here.
The move will allow legislators in Punjab to hold high offices in boards, corporations and other bodies under the state government.
The Congress party, 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 legislators who could not make it into the Amarinder Singh cabinet.
The amendments "aimed at addressing the complexities of modern day governance", include incorporation of a new Section 1A to provide for the definitions of "compensatory allowance", "statutory body" and "non-statutory body", the spokesperson said.
Various high courts have come down on lawmakers for holding office of profit. Twenty one lawmakers of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi were disqualified by a court last year for this.
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Karnataka cabinet decides to increase bus fare by 15 per cent
Bengaluru, Jan 2: The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to increase the bus fares in the state-owned transport corporations by 15 per cent.
The decision was taken in view of the substantial hike in operational costs such as increase in spending on fuel prices and staff, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said.
The opposition BJP lashed out at the Congress government in the state over its decision to hike bus fares.
Addressing reporters here, Patil said the decision will come into effect from January 5.
The move is expected to generate Rs 74.85 crore monthly and about Rs 784 crore annually.
“The cabinet has decided to revise the bus fare of the four state transport corporations -- KSRTC, NWKRTC, KKRTC and BMTC by 15 per cent,” he said.
According to Patil, the BMTC bus fares were increased on January 10, 2015 when the diesel prices were Rs 60.90 per litre.
“The daily diesel consumption was Rs 9.16 crore 10 years ago by the four corporations, which has now increased to Rs 13.21 crore. The expenditure on staff in these four corporations was Rs 12.95 crore daily, which has increased to Rs 18.36 crore daily. Hence the revision was necessary,” he said justifying the hike.
The Minister also underlined that 'Shakti' guarantee will continue.
Shakti offers free ride for Karnataka women in state-owned non-luxury buses across the state.
In the current fiscal, Rs 5,015 crore has been earmarked for the 'Shakti' scheme, the Minister explained.
Patil said, “Every month the state government is releasing Rs 417.92 crore grant to these four corporations. This will not be a burden on the state finance.”
He added, “With the hike in bus fares across all the categories of bus services, neither the transport corporations will go bankrupt, nor government exchequer will go empty. Mind you, we are the best state in terms of managing finances.”
Patil also said the state government has cleared all the provident fund dues to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore.
Regarding the decision he said, “We discussed about hike between 13 per cent and 15 per cent and the cabinet arrived at a decision of 15 per cent looking at the prices prevailing in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra. After the rise of 15 per cent, we will be lesser than any of these states.”
In a post on X, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra said, "Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, with what face do you boast that you have given the five guarantee schemes to the people of the state? By failing to provide money for the Shakti Yojana, you have caused the transport company to tread the path of loss."
He said by increasing the bus fare by 15 per cent, the government line is that the bus travel is free for women, but it will definitely be a burden for men.
"The decision of the Congress government in Karnataka to increase the transport fare by 15 per cent is unscientific and anti-people and the BJP will raise its voice against this and support the people.
ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ @siddaramaiah ನವರೇ,
— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) January 2, 2025
ಯಾವ ಮುಖವಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡು ನೀವು ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಜನತೆಗೆ ಪಂಚಭಾಗ್ಯ ಯೋಜನೆಯನ್ನು ಕೊಟ್ಟಿದ್ದೇವೆ ಎಂದು ಜಂಬ ಕೊಚ್ಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತೀರಿ?
ಶಕ್ತಿ ಯೋಜನೆಗೆ ಹಣ ಒದಗಿಸಲು ವಿಫಲವಾಗಿರುವ ನೀವು ಸಾರಿಗೆ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯು ನಷ್ಟದ ಹಾದಿಯನ್ನು ತುಳಿಯಲು ಕಾರಣರಾಗಿದ್ದೀರಿ.
"ಮಹಿಳೆಯರಿಗೆ ಉಚಿತ ಪುರುಷರಿಗೆ ಅದರ ಹೊರೆ ಖಚಿತ"… pic.twitter.com/o7xguT1hj7
