Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh reaches out to ministers ahead of cabinet meeting today

CHANDIGARH: A day before the meeting of the council of ministers, chief minister Amarinder Singh met his cabinet colleagues, besides continuing with his interactions with party MLAs for the third day on Thursday. The interaction with the ministers was being seen as an attempt to pre-empt any resistance to the cabinet meeting agenda, including implantation of the 6th pay commission report, an item that was not brought up during the last meeting.
A minister who attended the meeting later said the implications of the recommendations of the pay commission, including the burden on the state exchequer, were discussed. There are 26-odd agenda items for the cabinet meeting. The meeting not only comes amid talks of changes in the cabinet, but also at a time when a section of the party leaders, including some ministers, have raised questions at the style of functioning of their own government before the AICC appointed panel.
Even though there have been reports that there is a move to appoint sons of two Congress MLAs on compassionate grounds as DSP and tehsildar, the matter could not be brought on the main agenda, said sources.
The previous cabinet meeting was held under the shadow of the feedback exercise by the three-member Kharge panel, but a section of the ministers was not keen on attending and the agenda had to be truncated. The recommendations of the 6th pay commission were to be taken up in the last meeting.
Meanwhile, pictures posted on the social media pages of the chief minister stated: “Had detailed meetings with my cabinet colleagues and also met our MLAs to discuss the ongoing work in their respective assembly constituencies.”
Congress MPs Ravneet Singh Bittu (Ludhiana) and Gurjit Singh Aujla (Amritsar), besides MLA Raj Kumar Verka also met with the chief minister. Verka said he raised issues pertaining to Dalits with the chief minister and had assured to regularise sanitary workers working on contractual basis in the state. “He has given the orders and the item is likely to be formally approved in the cabinet meeting,” he said.
Party circles have been abuzz with reports that the party high command could call the Punjab leadership for an interaction with Sonia Gandhi around June 20 to make Amarinder and former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu bury the hatchet. However, there has been no confirmation.