BUDGET SESSION from March 11 to 28

Chandigarh, February 5, 2013: The Punjab Cabinet today approved to convene the 4th Session (Budget) of 14^th Punjab Vidhan Sabha from March 11 to 28.

A decision to this effect was taken in the Cabinet meeting held under the Chairmanship of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at Punjab Bhawan here this evening.

Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s office said that the dates of the Session would be sent for the final nod by the Punjab Governor for summoning the 4^th Session (Budget) of 14^th Punjab Vidhan Sabha. As per the program the session would commence on March 11 in the afternoon with Governor’s address. Budget estimates for the year 2013-14 would be presented on March 20 by the Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa and the general discussion on budget estimates would be held from March 22 onwards.

Reiterating its commitment to preserve the honor and dignity of women, the Cabinet approved the setting up of 20 fast track Courts in the state for the speedy trial of cases of heinous crime against women.  The Cabinet also gave its nod for creating 20 additional posts of Superior Judicial Services along with the supporting staff to provide immediate justice to the women of State of Punjab. 

The Cabinet also gave nod to create and recruit the posts of six Deputy Superintendents of Police, 36 Inspectors, 415 Lady Sub-inspectors and 400 Lady Constables in Punjab Police to control the crime or sexual assault on women in the state. It would put an additional burden of Rs.18.04 crore annually on the state exchequer.

The Cabinet also approved to amend Punjab Motor Vehicle Taxation Act 1924 for the provision of penalty and punishments against the defaulters for not paying vehicle tax at the state entry points. Buses plying on contract carriage permit or tourist permit of other States entering into the State of Punjab without payment of Motor Vehicles Tax on entry point would be liable to imposition of penalty for the first offence of Rs 50000 and Rs 100000 for the subsequent offence and subsequently the erring owner or driver of such vehicle would be punished with imprisonment up to six months.

In order to perpetuate the rich cultural heritage of the state, the Cabinet also approved to levy one percent cultural cess on the total construction of roads, bridges and flyovers by the state government for erecting and maintaining heritage buildings, national and state monuments. 

The Cabinet also gave in principle approval for creating a special fund to check the menace of cancer and drug-addiction in the state.  A surcharge/cess would be levied on some items, taxes and receipts and the money collected from it would be deposited in this special fund.  The administrative department with the consent of Chief Minister would enact a scheme under which this fund would be utilised and it would not be utilized for any other purpose. 

In compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court, the Cabinet also approved the draft of Punjab Minor Mineral Rules, 2013 by repealing Punjab Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1964 and the Punjab Minerals (prevention of illegal mining, transportation and storage) Rules, 2012. It is expected that with the new rules the problem of shortage of bricks, sand and other construction material would be solved soon. District level committees under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner would be constituted for giving environmental clearances to the mines below the area of five hectares. A cluster, not exceeding total area of 100 hectares, would be set up for all those mines having area of less than five hectares. In order to monitor the auctioned mines electronic weighing machines would be installed.

Keeping in view the larger public interest and to safeguard the rights of school going children, the Cabinet also gave nod to amend Rule 11 (1), 11(5) and 18(1) of the Punjab Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education 2011 thereby extending the deadline of filing declaration by the schools under the act with more five months. This move would benefit around 1.72 lakh students studying in 1673 schools across the state, who have not submitted the declaration yet.    

The Cabinet also approved to issue Ordinance for amending Punjab Lokpal Act, 1996 thereby paving way for the appointment of one Up-Lokpal in the state.  This decision would assist the Lokpal in dealing with the cases in more effective manner on one hand and would also enable the democratic functioning of Lokpal Act on the other. 

Keeping in view the welfare of people of the state, the Cabinet also approved the draft of the Punjab Laws (special provision) Bill, 2013 which would regulate and control the un-authorized colonies in the state. 

In another important decision aimed towards taking immediate action against the officers/officials retaining government houses in an unauthorized manner, the Cabinet gave its nod to amend Rule 10(2) of Punjab Government Houses General Pool Allotment Rules 1983.

In another decision the Cabinet also gave nod to omit Rule 45-A of Punjab Panchayat Election Rules, 1994 which was inserted in the year 2008 to facilitate the election of Sarpanchs from amongst the Panchs. However after amendment in section 10 of the Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 which provides that Sarpanchs would be elected from amongst the members of the Gram Sabha both rule 45-A and section 10 had became contradictory to each other so there was no necessity to keep this rule, added the spokesperson.

The Cabinet also approved for signing a tripartite agreement between Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, Bharat Broadband Network Limited and State of Punjab for creation of National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) for providing Broadband connectivity to the Panchayats in the state. This project which was a joint effort of the Centre-State governments would connect 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats in the country through optical fiber by utilising existing fibers of public sector undertakings (PSUs) viz. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL), Railtel Corporation of India Ltd. and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.

The Cabinet also approved to double the monthly assistance to the veterans/ widows of World War II above the age of 65 from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000 besides, enhancing the annual income eligibility conditions of these beneficiaries from Rs.12,000 to Rs. 1,00,000.

Likewise in order to impart Drug De-addiction services in an efficient manner, the Cabinet also Okayed the shifting of already created posts of different categories to the functional and newly constructed Drug de-addiction Centers across the state besides creating requisite posts of four Social Workers and nine Medical Officers for these centers.

In order to provide best Health care facilities to the people by overcoming the shortage of staff, the Cabinet also approved the process of filling all vacant posts of Medical Officers (Specialist) through a system of walk in interview/Campus recruitment process.

In a bid to upgrade the Industrial Training centers across the state to impart vocational training to the youth, the Cabinet also gave its approval for the creation and filling up of 156 posts of Service providers for the advanced module of Vocational Training Improvement project of Punjab Industrial Training department.