About 36,000 eligible employees of the Punjab Government are all set to get the good news soon, said the state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday.

Cheema, who is also heading the three-member Cabinet sub-committee to regularise the contractual workers, said that they have thoroughly discussed the ways to meet the end during the previous meetings.

“There are many guidelines of the Supreme Court and the departments, too, have their own rules to recruit the employees, which the committee is considering in depth and the services of all those fulfilling the required criteria would be regularized soon,” said Cheema while reiterating the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s firm commitment of fulfilling the guarantee given to 36gvernment’s 36,000 contractual employees.

Cheema, during an informal interaction with the journalists after reviewing the current status of ongoing development works as the minister in-charge of Patiala district, said that Punjab’s fiscal heath would improve soon as the Government’s intention is clear. “But it is regrettable to say that the previous government did not pay any attention to improve state finances for five years. The previous government did not even make efforts to increase the state revenue and remained dependent only on the GST compensation provided by the Centre,” he said.

He said that Rs 6,200 crore were received from the excise the previous year; and under the new excise policy, the target is to collect Rs 9,600 crore this year.

To a query regarding Punjabi University, the Finance Minister said that the Government is serious about clearing the varsity’s debt of Rs 150 crore while its annual grant has been increased from Rs 114 crore to Rs 200 crore.