Latest News Of Punjab

Chandigarh, September 12, 2019: MGNREGA WAGES PENDENCY WOULD BE CLEARED WITHIN 2-3 DAYS: The Punjab Rural Development & Panchayats Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa has said that MGNREGA wages pendency would be cleared within next 2-3 days. In press statement issued here today he said that the delay for the clearance of pendency of MGNREGA wages was at the level of Government of India and they have given sanction for 116 Cr. for MGNREGA wages just today. The Rural Development Minister Punjab has made it clear that the total liability of labour component in MGNREGA scheme lies with the Government of India. The delay was at the GOI India level as they have to transfer the wages directly to the beneficiaries. The Punjab Government have been taking up the issue on a daily basis with the GOI. He also said that the Punjab Government is regularly updating the information about the wages of the MGNREGA on the national Electronic fund management system without any delay. The Rural Development Minister has also said that the wage payment for Punjab was pending since 10th July 2019 and we had already exceeded our labour budget outlays for the first 6 months. He further said that the pending liability was Rs. 114 Cr. till yesterday. We had sent our next demand to government of India four weeks ago & it had been pending at their level. PUNJAB SECURES 2ND RANK IN LOGISTICS EASE, IN COUNTRY ACCORDING TO A STUDY BY UNION COMMERCE & INDUSTRY MINISTRY CHANDIGARH: Punjab has been awarded second in the country in logistics ease by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The announcement was made in the Board Meeting held in the capital under the Chairmanship of Union Minister Piyush Goyal here today. Thanking the Union Minister for recognizing the various endeavours of state government in ensuring a congenial atmosphere for trade and industry, Additional Chief Secretary Commerce and Industries said that Punjab was committed to offer pro-active support and assistance to all wishing to come and invest in state. State has attracted more than 50,000 Crores of investment in the last two years, demonstrating the revival of industry in Punjab, she added. Representing Punjab in the Board meeting, Vini Mahajan raised various issues of concern to state and requested the Union Minister for an early resolution of the same. On the issue of GoI designating certain exporters as risky, she said that state was not intimated about the criterion being followed to identify such exporters as ‘risky’. “There was no official communication till date to the exporters notifying them of any violation of the default for which they have been declared risky. This is a direct attack on the integrity & credibility of people who have been in the business for decades,” she stated requesting the Minister for his intervention in the matter at the earliest. Raising the issue of SAFTA Customs Duty Regime, Mahajan demanded level playing field and reciprocity on customs duty being imposed on bicycle and bicycle parts imports from India and Bangladesh. The industry is vital for the state, she pointed out observing that CICU has pointed out in the context of bicycles and bicycle parts that Bangladesh imposes customs duty on imports from India, whereas India allows zero duty imports from Bangladesh. Emphasising the issue of Rebate of State & Central Taxes and Levies (ROSCTL), she said the online system for claiming benefit under said scheme is still not provided and claims for substantial amount are held up. She requested the Ministry for an urgent redressal of the same on priority. On the pending state GST refunds, Mahajan urged for making the process more effective so that the exporters should not wait longer for their GST refunds. She also suggested for an increase in budget for the Market Access Initiatives Scheme besides requesting for increasing the number of participation attempts for exporting entities in exhibitions to four from existing two at present. Citing the “Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme” (TIES) initiated for the infrastructure development of industrial areas, Mahajan urged the Ministry to sanction more funds to the state. She said that the GOI share should be raised to 75% from the present 50% pointing out that even the State requires few clusters for pollution control mechanism. Pointing out that the DFCCIL was running late from its schedule to complete the work of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, which would put pressure on Punjab’s exports, Vini Mahajan underlined the need to make arrangements for smooth connectivity of Punjab with the Western Freight Corridor. The strengthening work on Punjab side of the freight corridor should be immediately completed to enable double stacking of railway wagons, she said. INTER MINISTERIAL CENTRAL TEAM VISITS PUNJAB, MAKES HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT OF DAMAGE Chandigarh: A seven member Inter Ministerial Central Team led by the Joint Secretary (CIS), Union Ministry of Home Affairs Anuj Sharma met the top brass of Punjab Government here today at the ISB, Mohali. The purpose of the visit of Central Team was to assess the damage occurred in wake of floods in several districts of Punjab. The Special Chief Secretary (Revenue) Karanbir Singh Sidhu briefed the team about the devastation caused by the flood fury besides the post deluge relief measures undertaken by the State Government. He pegged the cumulative losses at Rs. 1219.23 crore. He further said that the entire belt of Sutlej/Beas/Ravi along with districts of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Roopnagar, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Moga, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Tarntaran witnessed large scale destruction. The Special Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Gurkirat Kirpal Singh briefed about the relief and rescue operations carried out as well as the rehabilitation efforts afoot to extend succour to the aggrieved. Focussing on the farming community in particular, he emphatically put forward the case of Punjab for the financial aid. He also reiterated that the State Government would spare no effort to provide assistance to the people. As per the memorandum submitted to the Inter Ministerial Central Team , the estimate of the losses include Rs. 66.07 crore as submitted by the Deputy Commissioners, Rs. 5.37 crores as reported by the Power Department, Rs. 172.83 crores by the PWD (B&R), Rs. 38.72 crores by the Rural Development Department, Rs. 577.7 crores by the Development Department, Rs. 72.64 crore by the Health and Family Welfare Department, Rs. 57.07 crore by the Local Government Department, Rs. 23.45 crore by the Animal Husbandry Department, Rs. 202.54 crore by the Water Resources Department and Rs. 2.84 crores as reported by the Water Supply & Sanitation Department. Lauding the efforts undertaken by the Punjab Government to tackle the aftermath of the floods and provide relief to the affected people and the areas, the Joint Secretary (CIS), Union Ministry of Home Affairs Anuj Sharma assured all assistance as per the norms. He was accompanied by Ashok Kumar Singh Assistant Commissioner (Crop), H. Atheli Director (Admn), Rishika Sharan, Director CEA, PK Shakya, Chief Engineer, Bhim Prakash, Under Secretary (Skills) Union Ministry of Rural Development and Vineet Gupta ,SE (Coordination) Ministry of Jalshakti. The State team of officers present on the occasion included Viswajeet Khanna, ACS(D), Sarvjit Singh Principal Secretary Water Resources, Jaspreet Talwar Secretary Water Supply and Sanitation, Hussan Lal Secretary PWD , Rahul Tewari Commissioner Roopnagar Division, Kumar Rahul ,Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare, Arunpal Singh Special Secretary Rural Development and Panchayat Department, Secretary Power R. K. Kaushik, ADGP (Law & Order) Ishwar Singh, Director Local Government Karnesh Sharma, Deputy Commissioner SAS Nagar Girish Dayalan , Deputy Commissioner Rupnagar Sumit Jarangal and Additional Secretary Finance Surinder Kaur Waraich. PUNJAB FETCHES RS. 54.51 CRORE FROM E-AUCTION OF PROPERTIES Chandigarh: PUDA & other special development authorities viz. GMADA, PDA, JDA, GLADA, ADA & BDA earned revenue amounting to Rs. 54.51 crore by auctioning IT industrial plots and commercial properties including a multiuse site, SCOs, SCFs, booths, shops, double storey shops and residential plots situated across the state. The e-auction had started on 01 September 2019. Divulging the details, a spokesperson said that Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) successfully auctioned IT industrial plots situated at IT City besides auctioning SCOs and residential plots situated in different sectors of SAS Nagar. From the auction of these properties GMADA earned an amount of Rs. 24.89 crore. He further said that from the auction of various OUVGL properties (optimum Utilization of vacant Government Lands), PUDA received an amount of Rs. 20.31 crore. “Revenue to the tune of Rs. 2.60 crore by Patiala Development Authority (PDA), Rs. 3.90 crore by Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA), Rs. 1.43 crore by Bathinda Development Authority (BDA), Rs. 85.50 lac by Amritsar Development Authority (ADA) and Rs. 53.38 lac by Jalandhar Development Authority (JDA) was received from the auction of properties falling under jurisdiction of these development authorities, he added”. The Spokesperson informed that Properties auctioned are situated in Patiala, Ludhiana, SAS Nagar, Jalandhar, Bathinda, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Batala & Malout. Successful bidders would be handed over the possession of the sites as per auction schedule. Earnest money of unsuccessful bidders shall be refunded soon.