LAHORE: The Punjab cabinet on Monday gave its nod to reserving 28.8 per cent job quota for the population of three divisions of south Punjab through an amendment in the Punjab Civil Servants Act 1974.

The Punjab government had earlier allocated around 35pc job quota for the candidates having domicile of any south Punjab district, but it was challenged in the Lahore High Court.

Eventually, a cabinet committee on functionality of south Punjab, headed by finance minister, was empowered to finalise job quota for the candidates from the region on the basis of population.

The committee decided to allocate 28.8pc job quota for south Punjab candidates and it was approved by the cabinet.

“As much as 10 percent [government] jobs in Punjab will be available on open merit, 28.8 per cent for south Punjab candidates and the remaining 61.2 per cent to be for the remaining six divisions of Punjab,” the cabinet decided.

Sources said the Punjab cabinet also asked the committee to work out quota of jobs for Bhakkar and Mianwali districts as well.

It is learnt that some members also suggested that the job quota should apply to the candidates who completed their education from south Punjab institutions and not the big cities.

The finalised amendments to the Punjab Civil Services Act 1974 will eventually be taken up by the Punjab Assembly.

It is learnt that the Punjab cabinet also gave a nod to an amendment in the Punjab Regularisation of Service Act, 2018, to allow three attempts, instead of the existing one attempt, to the candidates appearing before the Punjab Public Service Commission to get their service regularised in BS-17 and above.

Punjab cabinet in its 51st meeting, held after over a two-and-a-half-month gap, had taken up a lengthy 54-item agenda, mostly comprising annual reports, audit reports and amendments in various laws.

The cabinet approved the Punjab Sahulat Bazaars Act 2021, establishment of the Punjab Private Schools Regulatory Authority, Punjab Examination Commission Business Rules 2021 and expansion of Waseela-e-Taleem Programme in Secondary Education.

The cabinet also considered austerity measures for the current financial year (2021-22) for approval.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2022