Punjab cabinet recommends dissolution of Assembly

The Punjab Cabinet has recommended dissolution of 13th state Assembly to the Governor paving way for constitution of the new legislature after declaration of poll results on 6th March. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in Chandigarh on Friday. The Cabinet has recommended dissolution of the state Assembly under Section 15 sub-section 2 of the People's Representation Act, 1951, a government spokesman said. The Governor is competent to dissolve the state Assembly under section 2(b) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India. The Cabinet rejected the proposed draft water policy of the Central government. The Cabinet also rejected the proposal of the Union government to set up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). Ex-post facto approval was also given to the additional Government of Punjab Guarantee worth Rs 1500 crore to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) during 2011-2012. The Cabinet allowed the Cultural Affairs department to utilise Rs 10 crore out of Rs 50 crore corpus for the repayment of installments of the principal amount against the loan taken for the completion of World Class Virasat-e-Khalsa Heritage Complex at Sri Anandpur Sahib.