Chandigarh, June 23 -- The Punjabcabinet on Monday decided to cap the annual fee increaseby unaided schools in the stateat 5%. The council of ministers, led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann, formally approved the draft proposal presented by the state education department. Briefing the media after the meeting, finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the cabinet had approved an ordinance that will become law immediately upon receiving Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria's assent. "To regularise unreasonable fee increases by unaided schools, the cabinet approved the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026," a government spokesperson said in a press release. The amendments clarify the definitions of fee, fee enhancement and cumulative fee enhancement, place a 5% cap on the annual fee hike by unaided schools, and require prior approval from the Regulatory Body for any fee hike beyond that. Elaborating on the decision, education minister Harjot Singh Bain explained that unaided schools that arbitrarily charged more than 15% cumulatively in the past three years will have to refund the excess amount to parents. "The government is seizing the records of these institutions to carry out a detailed scrutiny," said Bains. "If any institution wants to hike the fee by more than 5%, it must justify it before a regulatory committee comprising officials from the district administration, and the education and finance departments," added the education minister. In another major decision, the cabinet also decided to release pending incentives owed to industrial units established under different industrial policies launched in 1978, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1996 and 2003. According to Cheema, these units had shut down due to various reasons, and previous governments had denied them their incentives, forcing the owners to move different courts. The cabinet consented to amend the guidelines of November 13, 2019, for disbursing capital subsidy/investment incentives under the state's industrial policies to boost industrial development. The incentives will be disbursed under a one-time settlement scheme. The cabinet also approved the creation of the additional deputy commissioner (ADC) post at Dasuya, which will also benefit residents of Mukerian, Gardhiwala, Talwara and Hajipur in Hoshiarpur district. An ADC will also be posted at the Phagwara tehsil in Kapurthala district. Cheema said the issue was brought to the chief minister's notice during his recent Lok Milni public outreach programme in Mukerian. "The local population has reported that they face difficulties in travelling long distances to the district headquarters for day-to-day works, so an official be stationed closer for their convenience," Cheema added. To integrate various databases of different departments of the state, avoid any duplicity and streamline existing processes, the cabinet also gave its nod for the implementation of the state data integration platform (SDIP) in Punjab. A three-tier steering committee will be set up under the chief secretary to ensure implementation of the project. The steering committee will also comprise administrative secretary, good governance, as member-convener and administrative secretaries of other departments as members of the committee....