Chandigarh [India]: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday handed over appointment letters of government jobs to 27 family members of the farmers who lost their lives in the agitation against the three farm laws.
Calling farmers the backbone of the economic structure of the state, the Chief Minister said that the Punjab government would always undertake every possible step to ensure the welfare of the victim families. Notably, till now, the state government has disbursed Rs 5 lakh compensation each to nearly 407 families of farmers who died during the year-long agitation against the farm laws, which have now been repealed by the Centre. They have also provided jobs to 169 next-of-kin of these deceased farmers.
According to an official spokesperson, Punjab government has found a total number of 407 cases of deceased farmers from all the districts where government jobs can be provided to their next-of-kin. But now 120 fresh names of the kin of the deceased farmers have been cleared by the State Level Committee, out of which 27 candidates have been provided with the offer letters of the job and the remaining 93 letters would be issued in the next couple of days.
Pointing out further, the spokesperson said that it is an ongoing process and as soon as the government gets the verification report from the district level, the eligible family members are being issued appointment letters commensurate with their qualification.
Punjab government has already taken a decision that the deceased farmers’ mother, father, married brother or sister, married daughter, daughter-in-law and grandchildren will be eligible for employment as a one-time measure on compassionate grounds.
As per the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), out of the total 27 persons who received their appointment letters 15 were from Patiala district, three from Amritsar, two from SAS Nagar (Mohali) and seven from Fatehgarh Sahib. (ANI)
