CHANDIGARH: The Punjab cabinet on Wednesday approved in principle to drop the NOC (no-objection certificate) clause for the registration of land and property, if the developers had made sale deeds before July 31 or done sale agreements or payments through banks to prove that the deal was genuine.
Minister Aman Arora said after the meeting that the govt will work out the modalities of this proposed policy before the chief minister makes the details public. An official spokesperson said that illegal real-estate developers often duped people into buying unapproved colonies, and the buyers had to then go from pillar to post for basic civic amenities, so the state govt will now protect the house buyers’ interests.
In February, the Punjab govt had said before the Lok Sabha elections that it planned to drop the NOC clause for land and property registration “in larger public interest” based on the complaints about delayed NOCs.
For fire safety
The cabinet gave a green light to The Punjab Fire Safety and Emergency Services Bill, 2024, upgrading the 2012 Act for meeting the new-age requirements of fire safety, firefighting, and ease of business. The building owners and occupiers of Punjab now ill require fire-safety certificate every three years instead of annually. The govt will deal with these cases based on risk classification of the buildings, and there will be a provision for fire insurance. This bill will help provide fire emergency services to all the residents, urban or rural.
Tax relief for cabbies
The cabinet also reduced the motor vehicle tax on registered tourist vehicles. Since it was lower in the neighbouring states, tourist vehicle registration in Punjab had declined and the revenue from it had fallen. The cabinet also agreed to levy additional road tax by another category for luxury vehicles for an extra income of Rs 87.03 crore. There will be green tax on old vehicles (transport or non-transport) to check air pollution.
For jobs to youth
The cabinet also gave the green light to the youth services’ department’s Youth Services Policy 2024 to wean the youth away from drugs. The cabinet also approved to amend the sports regular cadre service rules by framing ‘the Outstanding Sports Persons Service Rules’ to give jobs in the sports department to outstanding athletes.
For environment
The cabinet approved the tree preservation policy for non-forest govt and public land. Punjab has about 83% of its area under farming and a tree cover of just 5.92%, which it targets enhancing to 7.5% by 2030. This requires protecting the trees that stand on the non-forest or public land. There will be institutional mechanisms for compensatory plantation to compensate for the environmental loss that happens by chopping trees for projects.
A project worth Rs 792.88 crore with Japanese collaboration was approved for promoting agro-forestry and biodiversity conservation to boost tree cover through agroforestry, conserve groundwater, increase farmers’ income, reduce air pollution caused by burning of crop residue, do integrated watershed management of the Shivalik region, promote ecotourism, conserve biodiversity, and improve wetlands.
For farmers, kids, soldiers
Approval has come to designate the state executive committee as competent authority for releasing more than Rs 1 crore for each case quickly for crop damage due to notified natural calamities. The Punjab State Education Policy for children with disabilities got the green light to fulfil the objective of United Nation Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and give effect to the Right of Person with Disabilities Act, 2016.
Women to join fire services
The cabinet decided that criterion for recruitment of firemen in the state would be relaxed to enable women to get the jobs.
Special sports cadre
Cabinet minister Aman Arora said to accommodate sportspersons who have won medals, a special cadre of 500 staff with 460 coaches and 40 deputy directors would be created with direct recruitment. The Cabinet also decided to set up an area for adventure activities over acres near Shivalik hills.
14k illegal colonies
Arora said that over 14,000 illegal colonies came up in the state during the previous regimes without proper amenities.
