Chandigarh: The Punjab cabinet on Wednesday approved three key bills that would pave the way for Punjab govt’s move to put a cap on annual fee hikes by private schools, meet its promise of providing contractual employment to outsourced employees, and provide protection to trees in urban areas.Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema confirmed the council of ministers had okayed Punjab Regulation of Fee of Un-aided Educational Institutions (Amendment) Bill, 2026; Punjab Protection of Trees Bill, 2026 and Punjab State Outsourced Personnel Transition to Contractual Engagement Bill, 2026. He added the bill on contractual employment would first be sent for the governor’s assent, and then present in the assembly during the ongoing monsoon session.Cheema said while an ordinance to cap annual fee hike by private schools to 5% was already in place since July 13, 2026, the bill will give “permanent legal backing” to it. Over 32 lakh students studying in around 7,800 private schools in the state will benefit from the string framework to regulate fees, he said.Any hike beyond this requires prior written approval from the district regulatory body, granted only after scrutiny of the school’s financial records. If a school’s cumulative fee hike over the last three years exceeds 15%, the excess amount must be refunded to students and parents.All compulsory charges are clubbed together while calculating the fee cap, so schools cannot bypass the limit by splitting fees under different heads. The law also puts a complete stop to profiteering and capitation fees in any form. “The Bill has been necessitated as some un-aided private educational institutions were arbitrarily and unreasonably increasing their annual fees, which was imposing unnecessary financial burden on students and their parents,” said an official.The Punjab State Outsourced Personnel Transition to Contractual Engagement Bill, 2026, will help in the transition of eligible outsourced personnel into direct contractual engagement. To get the benefit, the candidate should have qualifying period of five years of continuous service, or three years in the case of personnel deployed in the enumerated hazardous categories under Section 2(1).The remuneration of contractual appointees will be determined by the department of finance and shall not be lower than the minimum rate of wages fixed under the Code on Wages, 2019, or any other law relating to minimum wages for the time being in force. The bill repeals the Punjab Ad Hoc, Contractual, Daily Wage, Temporary, Work Charged and Outsourced Employees’ Welfare Act, 2016 from the date of its enactment.The Punjab Protection of Trees Bill, 2026, proposes a law under which no one will be allowed to fell trees in urban areas without permission, and anyone who cuts down one tree will be required to plant 10 in its place.Cheema said a first offence will attract a fine of Rs 10,000, which will increase to Rs 35,000 for a second violation and Rs 50,000 for a third offence. “The move will help maintain green cover for ensuring ecological balance, prevent pollution, provide an institutional mechanism to compensate for the environmental loss caused by the felling of trees and conserve the soil in the state,” said the spokesperson.OTHER DECISIONS BY MANN & TEAMNEW BLOCK | Cabinet approved creation of Tarsika block in Amritsar by carving out 64 gram panchayats from Jandiala Guru block to improve delivery of development works.3 DIGITAL UNIVERSITIES | Cleared establishment of Cloud University (Hoshiarpur), MS Digital University (Fatehpur) and Physics Wallah Digital University (Patiala) under the Punjab Private Digital Open Universities Policy, 2026.PWD RECRUITMENT | Approved direct recruitment to 19 Draftsman (Civil) posts in the Public Works Department to strengthen project execution, monitoring and technical scrutiny.GST CHANGES | Cleared amendments to the Punjab GST Act to simplify compliance, reduce litigation, allow credit notes for post-sale discounts without prior agreements, and ease refund norms for exporters and businesses.PANCHAYAT CADRE MERGER | Approved amendments to the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act to merge the Panchayat Secretary and Gram Sewak cadres into a new Panchayat Development Secretary cadre.VETERINARY STAFF | Extended the engagement of 449 veterinary pharmacists and 451 safai sewaks working in 582 veterinary hospitals for one year, from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027.
