Punjab Cabinet decides to waive pending water bills
Chandigarh, Oct 18: The Punjab government on Monday decided to waive arrears of water supply charges in urban areas and pending electricity bills of rural water supply schemes in villages, a relief announced with upcoming assembly elections in mind.
The decision that will put a financial burden of about Rs 1,800 crore on the state, was taken in a Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
We are waiving water bill arrears of Rs 700 crore of all cities," the chief minister said at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting here.
The Cabinet decided to waive all the outstanding arrears of water supply and sewerage charges for domestic connections, said an official statement later.
"In villages, the panchayats' have pending bills related to the supply of water. We are waiving Rs 1,168 crore of their pending bills to give relief to villagers," said Channi.
It was decided in the meeting to provide funds through budgetary support to settle outstanding arrears of Rs 1,168 crore of power bills of rural water supply schemes, said the statement.
The cabinet also decided to provide free power to all rural water supply schemes with effect from October 1.
This decision will entail an annual expenditure of Rs 440 crore on the state exchequer, it said.
The Cabinet also gave a nod to reduce service charges on all rural water supply schemes by 70 per cent from Rs 166 to Rs 50 per household per month in the villages.
The Cabinet also decided to reduce water usage charges to Rs 50 per month for domestic connections of all categories having plot size above 125 square yards in municipal councils and Nagar Panchayats and Municipal Corporations.
Notably, plots up to 125 square yards in urban areas have already been exempted from paying water and sewerage user charges.
We are fixing water user charges at Rs 50 for villages and cities, said Channi.
Referring to the opposition allegation of the state's 'empty coffers', Channi said, Punjab da Khazana kade khali nahi hunda, na asi khali hon dena' (Punjab's coffers are not empty).
He said his government is committed to providing all facilities to the state.
On another Cabinet decision, Channi said it has also decided to regularly conduct appointments for Group-D posts comprising peons, drivers etc.
He slammed the previous governments for hiring people for Group-D posts on an outsource basis.
On a query about the status of contractual employees, Channi said the state government is already in the process to finalize a policy in this regard to safeguard the interest of such employees.
Channi was accompanied by deputy chief ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and O P Soni, Cabinet ministers Manpreet Singh Badal, Aruna Chaudhary, Vijay Inder Singla and Pargat Singh.
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Allahabad HC orders probe into 'reinstatement' of teacher in UP's Barabanki
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered a probe by the special task force (STF) into alleged irregularities in the rejoining of a teacher at City Intermediate College in Barabanki, observing that the reinstatement appeared to be prima facie illegal.
The court also directed the recovery of the salary paid to the teacher during the disputed period.
A bench of Justice Rajeev Singh passed the order on a petition filed by the college management committee. The court expressed doubts over the roles of the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Barabanki, the college principal and the teacher concerned and hence, directed a detailed inquiry into the matter.
Taking note of alleged manipulation of records and misleading submissions, the court ordered the immediate transfer of the Barabanki DIOS to ensure a fair probe. It also directed the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the then joint director of education of the Ayodhya division.
In its order, the court found that the teacher, Abhay Kumar, was initially appointed as an assistant teacher in 2018 but joined an Eklavya Model Residential School in Chhattisgarh as a lecturer in June 2024 without obtaining permission from the management. His subsequent request to retain the lien was rejected.
Despite this, he was allowed to rejoin the Barabanki College in September 2025 on the directions of the joint director of education and the DIOS, and was even paid the salary for October 2025. The court termed the rejoining "wholly illegal" and lacking any legal basis.
The bench also expressed concern over lapses in communication within the education department and directed the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary to ensure that official orders are communicated through email and WhatsApp as well, to prevent disputes.
The matter is next listed for hearing on May 28 when a compliance report is sought.
