The Punjab government today decided to pay to the farmers the productivity bonus in lieu of the electricity bills paid by them for running agriculture pump sets. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The amount equal to the electricity bills paid by the farmers would be given to them as productivity bonus, an official spokesman said here. This decision has been taken to give incentives to the farmers for increasing the productivity, he said. Earlier, the Cabinet Sub Committee on resource mobilization had recommended the payment of productivity bonus to the farmers. On the issue of Central assistance of Rs 800 crore, the cabinet was apprised that the Centre had sanctioned the amount on account of drought during kharif last year as "central assistance for additional cost incurred by the Punjab Government in providing power to the agriculture sector". The cabinet was further informed that based on this sanction letter, the amount is required to be released to the Punjab State Electricity Board, now the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. As per the instructions of the Centre, this amount can not be used for any other purpose. The council of ministers, therefore, decided that immediate necessary action be taken in accordance with the instructions of the Centre government.