A cabinet meeting was held on Wednesday at the Punjab Chief Minister's residence in Chandigarh. The meeting approved the prosecution of former Congress minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot in a corruption case. The Vigilance Bureau filed an FIR against Dharamsot in June 2022. The investigation revealed that Dharamsot had accepted a bribe of ₹1.67 crore.

According to a government spokesperson, action will also be taken against Dharamsot under the PMLA 2022. The cabinet has sent a recommendation to the Governor to initiate the case.

Finance Minister Harpal Cheema stated that the cabinet has approved the central government's decision to reduce GST. It will be passed in the upcoming assembly session.

He stated that a special court will be established in Mohali under a sessions judge to handle all NIA cases currently being heard in various courts. All cases will be heard in the Mohali court. The Punjab government will arrange for this, while the central government will pay for the costs.

Illegal encroachments in villages will be recovered.
The Punjab government has decided to recover money from people who have illegally occupied the village common land that was left vacant. A committee headed by the District Deputy Commissioner (DC) will be formed to determine the rates. Once the rates are finalized, the encroachers will be charged accordingly. Half of the recovered money will go to the committee and the other half to the department.

Two types of OTS schemes launched
A one-time settlement policy has been approved for Punjab shellers. Under this, 188 cases will be covered, for which penalties and interest will not be charged. The Punjab government has launched two types of OTS (One-Time Settlement) schemes to facilitate people in paying their past dues.

The first is for food supply defaulters. This scheme is for 1,688 sheller owners who have not repaid the Food Supply Department's money. They can pay their outstanding amount in three installments. Only after depositing the money will they be able to operate their shops.

The second is for pre-GST cases. This includes 20,039 cases. If the tax case is up to Rs 1 crore, 50% of the penalty and basic tax will be waived. Cases between Rs 1 crore and Rs 25 crore will receive a 25% waiver. Other conditions remain the same. Both schemes will remain in effect until December 31st. After that, no such OTS scheme will be introduced.

Amendment to the Right to Business Act
Industry Minister Sanjeev Arora stated that the Right to Business Act has been amended to cover a larger number of industries. The limit has been increased from Rs 25 crore to Rs 125 crore. Now, industries with turnover above Rs 105 crore can also be included under this Act and will receive approval in a shorter time.

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He said that five new approvals have been added. This includes labor department approval, factory license approval, consent to establish from the Pollution Department, no objection certificate from the Forest Department, and other necessary approvals.

The Act will cover all approved real estate projects.
The Minister stated that previously, the Right to Business Act only applied to approved industrial parks. Now, all approved real estate projects will be included. Real estate projects will be approved within five days. Projects that do not fall into this category will receive approval within 15 days. If a project is an extension, it will receive approval within 18 days. Green and orange industries will be given priority in this process.

An important decision has been taken in the cabinet meeting of the Punjab government. The government has denotified the land pooling policy. In such a situation, now this policy has been canceled. The meeting took place at the residence of CM Bhagwant Mann in Chandigarh. At the same time, approval was given to amend the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act 1961 and

to withdraw the exemption in stamp duty and registration fee for certain categories of cooperative societies. While the creation of the post of 'Panchayat Development Secretary' was also approved by combining the cadre of Panchayat Secretaries and Gram Sevaks (Gram Vikas Adhikaris). Although the Finance Minister was to hold the meeting earlier. But later it has been postponed.

Amendment in Cooperative Societies Act 1961

The cabinet approved amendment to the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act 1961 and to withdraw the exemption in stamp duty and registration fee for certain categories of cooperative societies. Exemption was made for compulsory registration under the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961,

which was originally meant to facilitate the growth of cooperative institutions, but this led to a situation that allowed property transactions (particularly in urban housing societies) to take place without formal registration or payment of stamp duty and registration charges.

This led to unregistered possession, benami transactions and other legally risky arrangements. Therefore, Sections 2 and 3 have been added by amending Section 37 of this Act,

Post of Panchayat Development Secretary created

To accelerate the development of rural areas through proper efficiency and monitoring, the Cabinet also approved the creation of the post of 'Panchayat Development Secretary' by merging the cadres of Panchayat Secretaries and Gram Sevaks (Village Development Officers).

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Subsequently, a State-level cadre for these posts will be created to accelerate rural development across Punjab. A 'dying cadre' will be created for the existing Panchayat Secretaries, who will be placed after the existing Gram Sevaks (VDOs) in the seniority list, on the basis of their self-declaration forms and as per their seniority.

पंजाब कैबिनेट ने इंडस्ट्रियल प्लॉटों को अस्पताल, होटल, औद्योगिक पार्क और अन्य उपयोगों के लिए बदलने की अनुमति दी है। पहले यह इंडस्ट्रियल प्लॉट केवल औद्योगिक उपयोग के लिए ही सीमित थे। अब एक हजार से 4 वर्ग गज तक के प्लॉटों को इस बदलाव के तहत मंजूरी दी गई है। यह जानकारी कैबिनेट मीटिंग के बाद पंजाब के कैबिनेट मंत्री अमन अरोड़ा ने दी। यह मीटिंग सीएम भगवंत मान के आवास पर संपन्न हुई।

उन्होंने बताया कि 40 हजार वर्ग गज के इंडस्ट्रियल प्लॉट को इंडस्ट्रियल पार्क में बदलने की अनुमति दी गई है। इन पार्कों में 60% क्षेत्र औद्योगिक, 30% आवासीय और 10% वाणिज्यिक उपयोग के लिए आरक्षित रहेगा। यह सभी प्लॉट फ्री होल्ड में रहेंगे, जिससे विकास की गति तेज होगी।

इसके अलावा, लीज होल्ड प्रॉपर्टी को फ्री होल्ड में बदलने का भी निर्णय लिया गया है। पहले की जटिल धाराओं के कारण संपत्ति के लेन-देन में कठिनाइयां हो रही थीं। इस नई नीति का उद्देश्य औद्योगिक प्लॉटों के प्रबंधन को सरल बनाना, कारोबार में सुगमता लाना, आवंटियों के बीच मुकदमेबाजी और अनिश्चितता को कम करना है।

लीज होल्ड प्रॉपर्टी को फ्री होल्ड करने के लिए 20 रुपए प्रति वर्ग गज की दर तय की गई है। इससे प्रॉपर्टी मालिकों के नाम पर हो सकेगी और सरकार को लगभग 1,000 करोड़ रुपए का राजस्व प्राप्त होगा। इसके अतिरिक्त, सीएलयू (चेंज ऑफ लैंड यूज) फीस के माध्यम से भी सरकार को आय होगी।

कैबिनेट ने एमएसई फैसिलिटेशन काउंसिल नियम-2021 में संशोधन और पंजाब जल संसाधन विभाग के जूनियर इंजीनियर्स (ग्रुप-बी) सेवा नियमों में बदलाव को भी मंजूरी दी है। इसके साथ ही वित्त विभाग के तहत विभिन्न निदेशालयों के विलय को मंजूरी दी गई है।

सरकार का दावा है कि प्रशासनिक कार्य कुशलता बढ़ाने और खर्च कम करने के लिए कैबिनेट ने वित्त विभाग के तहत आने वाले विभिन्न निदेशालयों के विलय को मंजूरी दे दी। इसके तहत छोटी बचत, बैंकिंग और वित्त, और लॉटरी निदेशालयों का विलय होगा और अब इसका नाम डायरेक्टोरेट ऑफ स्मॉल सेविंग्स, बैंकिंग और लॉटरी होगा।

डीपीईएड और डीएफआरईआई का भी आपस में विलय होगा और इसका नाम डायरेक्टोरेट ऑफ पब्लिक इंटरप्राइजेज एंड फाइनेंशियल रिसोर्सेज होगा। ट्रेजरी और अकाउंट्स, पेंशन और एनपीएस के विभिन्न निदेशालयों का भी आपस में विलय होगा और अब इसका नाम डायरेक्टोरेट ऑफ ट्रेजरी एंड अकाउंट्स, पेंशन और एनपीएस होगा। इस पुनर्गठन से राज्य को लगभग 2.64 करोड़ रुपए वार्षिक बचत होने की संभावना है।

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कैबिनेट ने भारत सरकार के दिशा-निर्देशों के अनुसार चंडीगढ़ में स्थापित स्टेट एसएनए ट्रेजरी के लिए नई रिक्तियों के सृजन को भी सहमति दे दी। केंद्रीय सहायता प्राप्त योजनाओं के तहत फंडों का हस्तांतरण अब एसएनए स्पर्श प्रणाली के माध्यम से होगा। स्टेट एसएनए ट्रेजरी को कार्यशील करने के लिए नौ रिक्तियों को मंजूरी दी गई है, जिनमें जिला खजाना अधिकारी, खजाना अधिकारी, दो सीनियर सहायक, चार क्लर्क और एक सेवादार शामिल हैं।