The Punjab Cabinet, under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, has sanctioned an ordinance aimed at overseeing fee increments in private unaided schools and modifying industrial incentive guidelines. The ordinance, named the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, intends to curb unjustified fee raises by these schools. It seeks to impose a 5% cap on annual fee hikes, ensuring transparency and accountability in fee structures to shield the interests of students and parents.
The Cabinet also greenlighted amendments to the Guidelines from November 13, 2019, concerning the allocation of capital subsidy and investment incentives under the state’s industrial policy. These changes are designed to simplify subsidy disbursement processes, enhance administrative efficiency, and ensure consistent implementation across eligible industrial units. Furthermore, the revised framework will facilitate the release of capital subsidy to eligible industrial units post the elimination of specific clauses in the guidelines, subject to document verification and meeting stipulated conditions.
Additionally, the Cabinet has granted approval for the implementation of the State Data Integration Platform (SDIP) in Punjab to integrate various departmental databases, eliminate redundancies, and streamline operations. To oversee the successful execution of the SDIP project, a three-tier steering committee will be established under the Chief Secretary, with the committee comprising the Chief Secretary as chairperson, the Administrative Secretary (Good Governance) as member-convener, and Administrative Secretaries from other departments as members.
