Special session of Vidhan Sabha to be convened on December 30 to discuss MGNREGA
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Saturday gave nod to amend the Punjab Abadi Deh (Record of Rights) Act, 2021, to reduce the time limit for filing objections and appeals under the ‘Mera Ghar Mere Naam’ scheme.
A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of the Council of Ministers held here today under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister.
Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the Cabinet also gave consent to amend Section 11 of the Punjab Abadi Deh (Record of Rights) Act, 2021, to replace the specific time periods with "within time notified by the Government, " with the intention of reducing the period for filing objections and their disposal from the existing 90 and 60 days respectively to 30 days each. Similarly, it was decided to amend Section 12(4) of the Act, to reduce the period for disposal of appeals from 60 days to 30 days.
This step will further speed up the process of resolving objections and appeals, benefiting the public significantly.
In a significant move to boost industrial growth and improve the financial health of businesses in the state, the Cabinet also approved a landmark amendment to the Industrial & Business Development Policy (IBDP) 2022, which replaces the condition of providing a Bank Guarantees (BG) for availing fiscal incentives under IBDP-2022.
The decision follows numerous representations from industry associations highlighting that the existing Bank Guarantee requirements were blocking substantial amounts of working capital. This liquidity crunch was identified as a major hurdle, limiting the funds available for industrial expansion, research and development, and job creation.
Under the recent amendment, for availing the incentive of Exemption of Stamp Duty, the condition of Bank Guarantee shall be replaced with the First Charge valid up to the date of commencement of commercial production, on the property for which the incentive has been availed. Further, for the incentive of CLU/EDC Exemption, a robust mechanism has been introduced in place of Bank Guarantee .The amendment will be applicable from the effective date of the policy ie from 17/10/2022.