Nearly 7,000 illegal colonies, plots or buildings, set up before March 19, 2018, are set to be regularised. For, the Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday okayed the regularisation policy for the same.
All the colonies, developed before March 19, this year — the day on which the Cabinet passed ‘Punjab Laws (Special Provisions for Regularisation Authorised Colony) Bill-2018’—would be covered under the decision to check the mushrooming of unplanned and haphazard constructions across the state.
At the same time, the Cabinet has decided to initiate stringent action against the coloniser of a colony, which comes up after the cut-off date, that is March 19, 2018, and also against those who do not apply for regularization.
As per the available data, there are presently around 7,000 illegal colonies, of which 5,000 were located outside the municipal limits.
The move is expected to give an opportunity for regularisation to colonisers or residents who have failed to apply for either getting their unauthorized colonies regularised or unauthorised plots or buildings falling in unauthorised colonies compounded under previous policies, or whose application are pending.
Spokesperson said that the policy would enable residents, living in these colonies, to get facilities of basic civic amenities like water supply, sewerage, electricity and road connectivity etc.
Highlighting the key features of the policy, the spokesperson said that unauthorized colonies developed before March 19, 2018, shall be regularized, with regularization charges earlier paid under the previous policies to be adjusted.
The charges, thus received from the regularization of the particular colony, would be used for providing basic infrastructure to that specific colony only and payment of charges shall be made in instalments.
Besides, committees of officers shall also be constituted for quick regularization of colonies, as well as plots falling in these unauthorized colonies.
“Residents Welfare Association (RWA) can also submit an application for regularization of the colony. Where there is no colonizer, creation of RWA shall be mandatory. However, the area under the road or park would be transferred in the name of the local authority immediately, and subsequently would be transferred to RWA as and when formed for its maintenance. Till that time, the upkeep shall be the responsibility of the colonizer,” said the spokesperson.
Unauthorized colonies have been categorized into four categories — where up to 25 percent plots are sold, where 25 to 50 percent plots are sold, where more than 50 percent plots are sold and a special provision for exceptional colony having more than 75 percent built-up area.
Spokesperson said that the colonizer would be required to submit registered sale deeds within three months from the grant of provisional regularization certificate in case sale agreements are submitted as proof of sale. No legal action shall be initiated against the colonizer who pays full charges as per demand notice, and no interest shall be levied on the pending payment, added the spokesperson.
PUNJAB TO SETUP ‘PUNJAB GHAR GHAR ROZGAR AND KAROBAR MISSION’
Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday gave approval to setting up the ‘Punjab Ghar Ghar Rozgar and Karobar Mission’ (PGRAKM), with Chief Minister to be the chairman of its Governing Council.
The Mission, to be registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, would facilitate every jobseeker in securing wage or self-employment in Punjab, India or abroad.
Spokesperson said that the proposed society would focus on creation of necessary framework to facilitate wage and self-employment for state’s unemployed youth, besides improving employability through skill training or skill upgradation. It would also identify areas having the potential for employment generation and would strive to harness that potential with government intervention.
The Mission would facilitate job seekers for placement in government, private jobs, overseas employment and skill training as per their aptitude and skills, said the spokesperson adding that it would also offer a platform for major job and entrepreneurship ventures, and bring employers and employees together.
It would also create an exhaustive database of unemployed household in the state, besides developing and promoting an ecosystem, conducive to employment generation, amongst all stakeholders which would help to ensure at least one job or source of employment or self-employment in each household — as promised by the Congress before elections.
PUNJAB’S 42L FAMILIES TO BE COVERED UNDER PMJAY
Giving in-principle approval to the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY), Punjab Cabinet has extended the central scheme to cover over 42 lakh families, instead of the proposed 14.96 lakh SECC (Socio-Economic Caste Census) families, thereby fulfilling the Congress poll promise of providing universal health cover.
But, the Centre’s ‘Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM)’, renamed as PMJAY, provides Rs five lakh coverage per family annually, would be implemented with another name in Punjab. For the same, the Cabinet has authorized the Chief Minister to rename the scheme for Punjab, where the Congress, in its election manifesto, had committed itself to providing universal health insurance.
The Cabinet has decided to set up a committee under the Chief Secretary to work out the financial modalities for the implementation of the scheme to be implemented at an estimated cost of over Rs 300 crore by cutting the budgets of other departments, as and where necessary.
While PMJAY had proposed to cover 14.96 SECC families in the state, the Captain Amarinder Singh government has decided to extend the scheme to provide Rs five lakh insurance cover to 42 lakh of the total 61 lakh families in the state, including families of farmers, construction workers and small traders, as well as other poor families (currently covered under the Bhagat Puran Singh Sehat Bima Yojana – BPSSBY).
With another six to seven lakh government employees already covered, only the few rich families are left out of the purview of the scheme, thus effectively reaching out to the entire population of the state.
Spokesperson said that estimated cost of annual premium at the rate of Rs 1,082 per family would be shared between the Central and State Governments in the ratio of 60:40, which would cost Rs 65 crores to the State Government annually, for which the Finance Department had already agreed.
The Cabinet also gave concurrence to extend the period of Bhagat Puran Singh Sehat Bima Yojana (BPSSBY), which is expiring on October 31, 2018, for the next three months or implementation of revised scheme, whichever is earlier.
PUNJAB GST ACT, 2017, AMENDED
Cabinet has also decided to amend the Punjab Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, through an Ordinance to simplify the process of filing returns and payment of tax with minimum paper work.
Notably, Punjab Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, is replica of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha on August 9, 2018. Similar amendments have to be made in Punjab Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, for which the special session of Vidhan Sabha would be convened soon.