Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, December 22: In a bid to propagate the life, works and philosophy of Tenth master of Sikhs Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji amongst the people in the country and across the globe, the Punjab Cabinet today approved to celebrate 350th Birth Anniversary of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji at Patna Sahib (Bihar) from 4-6 January, 2017.
This decision was taken by the Council of Ministers’ meeting under the Chairmanship of Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal held here at Punjab Bhawan this evening.
Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of Chief Minister’s Office said that the Cabinet approved to form a Foundation under the chairmanship of Punjab Chief Minister for commemoration of 350th Birth Anniversary of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji at Patna Sahib (Bihar) and empowering him to appoint other members. The Foundation would also decide to organize other programs besides major events/programs connected with the celebrations to be organized in Patna Sahib (Bihar). The Cabinet also decided to make special budgetary provision of Rs.100 crore in its annual budget 2016-17 besides releasing an amount of Rs.5 crore to the Foundation immediately for grand celebrations of this historic event.
As a patient friendly initiative to provide a new lease of life, the Cabinet also gave approval to present Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Act, 2011 and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Rules, 2014 framed by Government of India, in the next session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha for adoption by the state government. The amended Act makes organ tissue donation easier and systematic. It would also be highly useful for the patients who need organs and tissues transplantation. Under section 252 (1) of the Constitution of India, there is provision to get it approved from the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. After adoption of this amended Act, organ and tissue transplantation would become easier and more transparent. Whereas the amended Act and the Rules would encourage donations of organs and tissues by any individual during his lifetime and by his/her near relatives after his/her death, it also provides for enhanced punishment/fine for those who would indulge in any malpractice or violation of the statutes.
The Cabinet also approved the introduction of a novel scheme to include water supply & sewerage charges in the electricity bills of urban consumers in the state. Under the new system a fixed amount based on slabs of power consumption would be added to power bills and thus no separate bill for water supply & sewerage would be generated. At present the water supply & sewerage bill were based on the actual metered reading. The charges thereafter collected on account of water supply & sewerage from the consumers would be given to the respective Municipal Corporations and Committees. The new system of linking water supply & sewerage charges with electricity bills would not only prove to be cost effective but also save lot of manpower involved in duplicity and was consumer friendly. It was also decided that each household, shop, hotel etc. would install a Water Meter upto March 31, 2017 and each industrial unit would install the same upto March 31, 2016. Following user charges would be collected from the residential users till the water meters were installed:
Consumption of Power per month
(excluding any other levies or duties)
Charges
Upto Rs.200
Rs.25
From Rs.200 to Rs.500
Rs.50
From Rs.500 to Rs.1000
Rs.100
From Rs.1000 to Rs.2000
Rs.200
From Rs.2000 to Rs.5000
Rs.300
From Rs.5000 to Rs.10,000
Rs.400
Above Rs.10,000
Rs.500
Likewise, the following charges would be collected from the Non-Residential users till the water meters are installed:
Consumption of Power per month
(excluding any other levies or duties)
Charges
Upto Rs.200
Rs.25
From Rs.200 to Rs.1000
Rs.50
From Rs.1000 to Rs.5000
Rs.150
Above Rs.5000
Rs.300
In case of special categories i.e. Hotels, Multiplexes, Malls, Nursing Homes, Private Education Institution, Marriage Palaces and Clubs etc., 2% of the electricity bill would be charged. After the installation of water meters, those consumers of residential and non-residential categories who consume more than 20 kilolitre of water every month, would be charged Rs.7.60 (Rs.3.80 each for water and sewerage) per kilolitre. In case of special category, after the water metres were installed, 2% collection would be stopped and they would be charged at the rate of Rs.15.20 (Rs.7.60 each for water and sewerage) per kilolitre. New system of linking water & sewerage charges with electricity bills was expected to generate collections to the tune of Rs.502.25 crore annually.
Keeping pace with the inflationary trends, the Cabinet also approved to enhance the transport allowance admissible to war widows of 1948, 1962, 1965, 1971, Operation Pawan and Operation Meghdoot from Rs.150 to Rs.500 per month. As many as 801 war widows were entitled for transport allowance at present. The decision would entail a financial burden of nearly Rs. 48 lac per year on account of enhanced transport allowance.
In order to offset ill effects of Plastic carry bags on the environment, the Council of Ministers gave a green signal to insert clause-2 in section 7 of the ‘Punjab Plastic Carry Bags (Manufacture, usage & Disposal) Control Act, 2005’. The amended provision would now empower the state government to completely prohibit the manufacture, sale and use of Plastic carry bags and containers made of virgin or recycled plastic and plastic items having one time use such as disposable plastic cups, tumblers, spoons, forks and straws by way of issuing a notification in the official Gazette.
In bid to rationalize the VAT (Value Added Tax) on Petrol in Punjab and neighbouring states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan besides Union Territory of Chandigarh, the Cabinet gave a nod to constitute a committee comprising Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister to take decision with regard to increase or decrease the VAT/ID (Infrastructure Development) Cess on Petrol.
To further improve and raise the standard of higher education in Punjab, the Cabinet also approved to release a grant of Rs. 6 crore to the constituent colleges of Punjabi University, Patiala and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Accordingly, the University College, Miranpur (Patiala) and Punjabi University Girls College, Mansa under the jurisdiction of Punjabi University besides University College, Patti (Tarn Taran) and University College, Sathiala (Amritsar) affiliated to Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar would get financial grant of Rs. 1.50 crore each.
The Cabinet also decided to amend the University Act to rename the Maharaja Ranjit Singh State Technical University, Bathinda as Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Bathinda. With this change there would be parity in the name of both the technical universities and it would be clear to the students that Maharaja Ranjit Singh State Technical University was the second State Technical University after I K Gujral Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar.
The Cabinet also gave a go ahead to fill 270 vacant posts of Medical Officer (General). These posts would be filled up after taking them out of the purview of Punjab Public Service Commission, Patiala on the basis of written test to be conducted by the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, without any interview.
To ensure the smooth functioning of Architectural wing of Public Works (B&R) Department, the Cabinet also gave the green signal to revive and fill 16 posts including a post of Assistant Architect, four posts of Architectural Junior Draftsman, six posts of Clerks, three posts of steno-typists and two posts of sweepers in the department.
To ensure far more transparency and accountability, the Cabinet also gave approval to amend the Punjab Rural Development Act, 1987 by inserting some provisions to make audit account of Board legally bound. It may be recalled that the Audit of Punjab Rural Development Board was being conducted by the Examiner, Local Fund Accounts, Punjab since 2001. However, there was no specific provision in the Act to conduct audit of accounts of the Board in the Punjab Rural Development Act, 1987.
The Cabinet also decided to amend the relevant rules of Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of Services) Rules, 1994 to make compulsory the passing of typewriting test on computer in English apart from Punjabi at prescribed speed, before appointment by direct recruitment to the post of senior assistant and clerk.
The Council of Ministers also gave ex-post facto approval to allow Anandpur Sahib Foundation to utilize Rs. 5.60 crore out of its Corpus Fund to meet out all the expenses related to maintenance and operation of Virasat-e-Khalsa, Sri Anandpur Sahib and to recoup the amount withdrawn from corpus fund during 2016-17. It was also decided that in future from 2016-17 the expenses on operation & maintenance of Virasat-e-Khalsa would be meted out from Culture Cess.
The Cabinet also gave approval to Punjab Mandi Board for making provisions in Section 26 & 28 of ‘The Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1961’ for the payment of premium on account of Health and Personal Accident Insurance Scheme for all those farmers (J-form holders), who bring their produce to the Marketing Yards/Purchase Centres established by the Punjab Mandi Board. All such farmers would be provided a health insurance cover of Rs.50,000 and accident or death insurance of Rs.5 lac under the Bhagat Puran Singh Health Insurance Scheme. Nearly 11 lac farmers would be benefitted under this scheme and expenditure so incurred to implement this scheme would be borne by the Punjab Mandi Board.
The Cabinet also gave approval to Information & Public Relations Department for the empanelment of multiple specialized agencies (Print/Electronic/Creative/Web-Based/Releasing) to undertake the tasks being carried out presently by PUNMEDIA, the sole government agency for creation & release of advertisements, for achieving the desired publicity goals of the Government of Punjab. There was also a provision to appoint a Transaction Adviser-cum-Monitoring Agency to consult, guide and monitor all dealings with such empanelled Agencies. Departmental Committees would negotiate with such Media firms and Media Houses where DAVP rates didn’t apply or were not accepted.
It may be recalled that empanelment of such agencies would result in a better management system with differentiation of focus for specialized services and distribution of tasks. A process chain could be established with effective monitoring for ideation, creation and execution. Thus creativity, efficiency and productivity would increase manifold besides better visibility and recognition for the state would be achieved and a well managed, unified system of communication could be established with the people.
The Cabinet also approved to amend Punjab Village Common Land (Regulation) Rules, 1964 to enhance the income of Panchayats and facilitate sale of unused pathways and water courses falling in the lands of government approved projects.
The Cabinet also approved an amendment to the Schedule 1 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 by including an entry 62 (c) in Schedule IA of the Act for levying 0.1% of the amount as Stamp Duty subject to a maximum of Rs.1 lac on registration of documents for the Assignment of debt or securitisation of loans presented by Asset Reconstruction Companies, which assisted in recovery of bad debts.
The Cabinet also gave approval to present a bill in the forthcoming session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha for the conversion of Ordinance of amended Section 9 (1) (a) of Indian Stamp Act, 1899 related to exemption of Social Security Fund and Social Infrastructure Cess for the attestation of documents in blood relations into Act.
The Cabinet also approved the Punjab Cooperative (Group-A) Service Rules, 2015. Presently the Punjab Cooperative (Class-1) Service Rules, 2000 due to change in categorization of the posts, as some posts have been included in Group-A, which earlier existed in Class-2 and Class-3. Likewise, the Cabinet also cleared the Group-A Ministerial and Group-A Non-Ministerial Service Rules in place of ‘The Punjab Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes (Class-II) Service Rules, 1978, which had now been repealed due to the creation of several new posts’.
The Cabinet also gave approval to amend the ‘Punjab Gau Sewa Commission Act, 2014’ thereby making a provision of nominating a Vice-Chairman in the said Commission besides enhancing the existing strength of members from 7 to 10 including both the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman.
The Cabinet also gave the nod to slash the rate of tax chargeable on the Card Game Lottery Schemes from Rs.80000 to Rs.62000 per draw. The Cabinet also enhanced the number of draws from 30 to 48 per day. This decision would result in additional annual revenue of Rs. 21 crore to the state exchequer.
The Cabinet also decided to transfer 58.63 acres land of Animal Husbandry department on Nabha road in Patiala which has already come within the jurisdiction of city has been transferred to Punjab Urban Development Authority (Patiala Development Authority for developing Urban State under 80:20 Scheme). Thereafter the existing offices, farms and other institutions of Animal Husbandry department in Patiala Complex would be shifted to the newly constructed ‘Modern Cattle Breeding Farm’ at Rohini Farm. The PUDA would give requisite funds to the Animal Husbandry department as per the guidelines of 80:20 scheme in lieu of the above said land and the entire proceeds received from this deal would be utilized by the Animal Husbandry department for various development works and schemes.
The Cabinet also approved the continuation of services of 517 Veterinary Pharmacists along with 531 sweepers, working under Animal Husbandry Department as service providers at a monthly package of Rs.7,000/- and Rs.3,000/- respectively as a stop gap arrangement, till June 30, 2016 or the regular recruitment, whichever was earlier.
The Cabinet also approved the Annual Administrative Report of Forests & Wild Life Preservation Department for 2012-13 and Police Department for 2011-12.
