Punjab Cabinet Approves Free Bus Travel For NEET Candidates

Published 10 June 2026 · education

Punjab Cabinet Approves Free Bus Travel For NEET Candidates Published By, Last Updated: June 10, 2026, 21:18 IST Punjab Cabinet led by Bhagwant Singh Mann

Punjab Cabinet Approves Free Bus Travel For NEET Candidates Published By, Last Updated: June 10, 2026, 21:18 IST Punjab Cabinet led by Bhagwant Singh Mann okays free bus travel for NEET UG candidates, biogas plants, seniority rule fix, & wider industrial incentives Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], June 10 (ANI): In a significant policy shift, the Punjab government has announced the removal of the date-of-birth-based tie-breaker system in board examinations, aimin The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Wednesday cleared a package of decisions spanning student welfare, government recruitment, infrastructure and industrial policy, with the most immediate relief going to students appearing in the rescheduled NEET UG examination on June 21. Free bus travel on state-run buses has been approved for all NEET candidates and one attendant each, travelling to examination centres across Punjab and Chandigarh on June 20, 21 and 22. Students will need only their admit cards to board Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC buses. No fare will be charged. The financial liability of the scheme will be carried by the Transport Department and reimbursed by the Finance Department. The NEET UG examination, originally scheduled for May 3, 2026, was cancelled and has since been rescheduled for June 21. 1,013 Lecturer Posts, Five-Year Age Relaxation For Applicants The Cabinet approved the filling of 1,013 sanctioned vacant posts in the Lecturer Cadre (Group-B) through the Education Recruitment Directorate, covering both backlog and newly created vacancies.

Alongside the recruitment drive, the Cabinet granted a one-time relaxation of five years in the upper age limit for candidates applying for Lecturer Cadre posts in the School Education Department. The age relaxation addresses a cohort of candidates who have aged out of eligibility windows through years of delayed recruitment cycles, a pattern the Mann government has repeatedly cited as a legacy problem in Punjab’s public employment machinery. The 1,013 posts add to a government jobs tally that has crossed 67,000 merit-based appointments since AAP came to power in 2022. 156 Junior Engineers For Public Works Department The Cabinet also approved the recruitment of 156 Junior Engineers in the Public Works Department: 127 posts of Junior Engineer (Civil) and 29 posts of Junior Engineer (Electrical). All posts will go through direct recruitment via the Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board. The infusion is aimed at plugging supervisory and execution gaps in infrastructure project delivery across the state, where an understaffed PWD has been a persistent bottleneck. Patiala And Jalandhar To Get Compressed Biogas Plants On the clean energy front, the Cabinet awarded Wet Waste Based Compressed Biogas projects of 100 tonnes per day capacity each at Municipal Corporation Patiala and Municipal Corporation Jalandhar to HPCL Renewable and Green Energy Limited, on a nomination basis. Punjab currently generates nearly 4,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day across 166 Urban Local Bodies.