Chandigarh, Oct 21 (PTI) The Punjab Cabinet on Friday gave its nod to amend rules to ensure only those candidates are appointed to the state government's Group C and D posts who have "in-depth knowledge" of the Punjabi language.

According to an official statement, the landmark decision is aimed at further cementing the ethos of Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiat in the state.

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The decision was taken at a meeting of the Punjab Cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann here.

"The cabinet gave nod for amending Rule 17 of Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of services) Rules, 1994 and Punjab State (Group D) Service Rules 1963 with an aim to ensure that only those candidates are appointed in the Punjab government who have in-depth knowledge of Punjabi language," it said.

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It said that in rule 17 of the Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994, the first proviso, for the words "Provided that where a person", has been replaced with "Provided that no person shall be appointed to any post in Group-'C' service unless he has passed a qualifying test of Punjabi language equivalent to matriculation standard with at least 50 per cent marks, to be conducted by respective recruitment agencies in addition to competitive examination."

The test of Punjabi language shall be a mandatory qualifying test and failure to secure a minimum of 50 per cent marks in Punjabi will disqualify the candidate for being considered in the final merit list of candidates to be selected irrespective of their scores or marks in other papers of the respective exam.

"Similarly as per amendment in clause (d) of the Rule 5, in the Punjab State (Group-D) Service Rules, 1963, the words 'provided that' has been replaced with 'Provided that no person shall be appointed to any post in any service by direct appointment unless he has passed a qualifying test of Punjabi language equivalent to middle standard with at least 50 per cent marks..," it said.

In another decision, to pay great reverence and respect to the sacred religious scriptures of every religion, the Punjab Cabinet gave its nod to exempt specially designed vehicles for carrying the "Parkash" of religious scriptures of different religions in the state from Motor Vehicle Taxes (MVT).

As per the official statement, there are around 25,000 such vehicles in the state which are being used for carrying the "Parkash" of religious scriptures for religious ceremonies or religious events.

The MVT under section 13 (3) of Punjab Motor Vehicle Taxation Act, 1924 of such vehicle is around Rs 10,000 per annum. However the state government has decided to exempt these vehicles from the tax.

The move is likely to cause a financial implication of about Rs 20 crore to Rs 25 crore to the government, it said.

In order to check illegal mining in the state, the Cabinet also gave green signal to amend a provision of the Punjab Minor Minerals Rules 2013, thereby enhancing the slab of penalty from existing Rs 5,000-Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh.

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