Punjab Cabinet okays ropeway project between Sri Anandpur Sahib and Sri Naina Devi

 by Punjabnewswire4u (Balbir)

CHANDIGARH JULY 18

            The Punjab Cabinet today gave a go ahead to the prestigious Rs 100 crore ropeway project between Sri Anandpur Sahib and Sri Naina Devi by approving the Memorandum of Understanding to be signed between the governments of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

             A decision to this effect was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal here at CMO this morning.

Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that a joint venture Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Sri Naina Devi Ji and Sri Anandpur Sahib Ji Ropeway Company Pvt. Ltd. would be formed to develop this project on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOPT) basis or any other appropriate PPP format as may be finalized and mutually agreed to the parties. 

            The Cabinet also gave approval to set up two self-financed private universities namely Desh Bhagat University at Mandi Gobindgarh in district Fatehgarh Sahib and DAV University at Jalandhar for imparting multi-disciplined quality education to the students.

            The Cabinet also gave nod to provide 12.5 acre land at Birla Farm of state agriculture department in Ropar free of cost to the National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (formerly DOEACC Society), Chandigarh for setting up its full-fledged Center, which deals with computer education, software development and consultancy besides the upgradation of skills in manpower in the field of information, electronics and communication technology. 

The Cabinet also approved the drafts of Punjab Right to Information (Disclosure of Information by Public Authorities Providing Services in Municipalities) Rules, 2012 and Punjab Fire Prevention & Fire Safety Rules, 2012.  The Cabinet also approved to amend the Punjab State Finance & Accounts (Group A) Service Rules, 2012 for regulating the recruitment and conditions of the services of the Section Officer in the Punjab State Finance & Accounts (Group A) services. 

The Cabinet also approved the amendment in the Optimum Utilization of Vacant Government Land (OUVGL) to enable the government for creating a special 'Punjab Infrastructure Fund' by disposing of the government land, which would be exclusively utilized to finance infrastructure schemes and projects in the rural areas besides the urban areas of the
state. Pertinently earlier the funds collected under the OUVGL scheme were utilized for developmental works in the urban areas only.

The Cabinet also gave nod for amending the clause 3 of the tripartite agreement between the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Jalandhar, the Punjab Government and PUDA for enhancing the amount kept reserved for funding the Health institutions across the state from Rs 100 crore to Rs 130 crore, so as to improve the Health services in the state. The amended clause would be incorporated in a new tripartite agreement which would be signed by the concerned authorities and consequently the approved sum would be released by the
PUDA to the Health and Family Welfare department.

In another significant decision, the Cabinet also approved to create 134 new posts in the 7 Nursing Schools run by the state government. These posts included 6 Principals, 7 Vice Principals, 100 tutors and 21 Additional Tutors which would entail extra burden of Rs 423 crore annually on the state exchequer.  The Cabinet also approved to take these posts out of the purview of the State Services Selection Board so as to enable the Directorate of Health Services to fill these posts in accordance with the rules and criteria prescribed by the Indian Nursing Council (INC).

The Cabinet also approved to amend Punjab Civil Services (Executive Branch) Rules, 1976 by incorporating sub clause (2-A) under the sub clause (2) of the clause 10 and sub clause (2) of the clause 15, which would enable the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) to frame rules regarding the syllabus  and conduct of the screening test.  This step would enable the commission to remove hurdles in recruiting the PCS officers from Group 'A' and 'B' employees falling in categories of Register A-11 and Register-C, besides overcoming the shortage of PCS officers due to which general public was facing extreme difficulties in getting their day to day administrative work done.

The Punjab Cabinet also gave approval for amending Rule 1.1 of the Punjab Police Rules, 1934 thereby abolishing the provision of separate cadre of women in the Police force thus facilitating to constitute a common cadre of male and female Police officers.

The Cabinet also approved the allotment of booths to the tenants of the shops demolished during the construction of beautification project (Galiara) around Sri Harmandir Sahib after Operation Bluestar through draw of lots instead of auction by amending Section 8 of the Punjab Town Improvement Act (Utilization of Land and Allotment of Plots) Rules 1983 in the light of the decision Punjab & Haryana High Court.

The Cabinet also gave approval to amend the preamble of Punjab state Board of Technical Education & Industrial Training Act, 1992 by incorporating ‘an act to provide for the establishment of a State Board of Technical Education & Industrial Training for promotion and co-ordination of technical education and industrial training in polytechnics and industrial training institutes in the state of Punjab and for subjects connected therewith, including skill development with related infrastructure’.   

On the recommendations of the Punjab Governance Reforms Commission, the Cabinet also approved the introduction of facilitation charges for the services provided to the people as under:  -

A.        Facilitation charges for the services to be provided at the level of Police Commissionerates of Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar

S.No.	Name of Service	Nature of Service	Facilitation Charges (Rs.)
1	Passport Services	Passport Verification MRG Enquiries in case of loss of passport abroad. Registration of foreigners their arrival and departure. Extension of residential permits of foreigners Any other related services	100 500 100 500 100
2.	Arms License Verification	Verification for new Arms license and renewal. Appointment of Retainer of Weapon Addition/Deletion/Sale/Permission/Entry Weapon/NOC etc. processing fee.	200    50    50
3.	Registration of vehicles	NOC for vehicle checked as ‘not stolen’ from database	100
4.	Permission for fairs	Permission for Fairs/Melas/ Exhibitions/Sponsored events etc.	500
5.	Permission of Loudspeakers etc.	Permission for use of Loudspeakers/ Orchestras at social functions	100
6.	Issuance of NOC (Petrol Pump, Marriage Palace, Hotel, Cinema etc.)	NOC with regard to public nuisance, safety concerns etc.	5000
7.	Issuance and renewal of licenses (Arm Dealers, Cinema, Video Parlours etc.)	NOC with regard to public nuisance, safety concerns etc.	500
8.	Police Clearance Certificate	Service Verification Character verification Stranger verification Tenant and servant verification Other related services	100
9.	Issuance of copy of documents	Per page	5
10.	Counter signing of document	Counter sign	10
11.	SMS Alert Service and Mail service	Optional	100

B.        Charges to be collected on the facilities given at the level of 24 police districts

S.No.	Name of Service	Nature of Service	Facilitation Charges (Rs.)
1	Passport Services	Passport Verification MRG Enquiries in case of loss of passport abroad. Registration of foreigners their arrival and departure. Extension of residential permits of foreigners Any other related services	100 500 100 500 100
2.	Police Clearance Certificate	Stranger verification Tenant and servant verification Other related services	100
3.	NOC	For registration of vehicles	100
4.	Issuance of copy of documents	Per page	5
5.	Counter signing of document	Counter sign	10

C.        Charges to be collected at the level of  Deputy Commissioners/Suvidha Centers but to be transferred to the outreach centers of the concerned police station

1.	Arms License Verification	Verification for new Arms license and renewal.	200
2.	Permission for fairs	Permission for Fairs/Melas/ Exhibitions/Sponsored events etc.	500
3.	Permission of Loudspeakers etc.	Permission for use of Loudspeakers/ Orchestras at social functions	100
4.	Issuance of NOC (Petrol Pump, Marriage Palace, Hotel, Cinema etc.)	NOC with regard to public nuisance, safety concerns etc.	5000
7.	Issuance and renewal of licenses (Arm Dealers, Cinema, Video Parlours etc.)	NOC with regard to public nuisance, safety concerns etc.	500

The revenue thus collected on account of the facilitation charges would be utilized as recurring expenditure for the functioning of 114 Community Police Centers, 88 Community Policing Suvidha Centers and 267 Police Station Outreach Centers across the state. 

To check the evasion of tax on account of classification of the lubricants, the Cabinet also gave approval to amend the notification regarding Lubricants on which VAT@ of 12.5% was being charged, to now incorporate words ‘Transformer Oil’ or ‘Rubber Processing Oil’ besides all types of Processing Oils and Fluids.  This decision would likely to generate additional revenue of Rs.15 crore annually thereby plugging the leakage of tax.  

In order to boost the export of non-basmati rice from the state and to make more competitive in the international market, the Cabinet also approved the refund of Infrastructure Development (ID) Fee to the private parties who export non-basmati rice derived out of the paddy on the first purchase of which such private parties have earlier paid Infrastructure Development (ID) fee. 

The Cabinet also approved to now levy 8% lump sum tax instead of 12.5% VAT besides 10% surcharge on the mobile phone including all its parts and accessories such as head phone, data cable, mobile charger, memory card, ear phone, audio device, mobile cover, mobile battery, Bluetooth and mobile holder.  This decision was likely to generate additional revenue of Rs.30 crore annually. 

The Cabinet also gave approval to levy VAT @ 5% besides surcharge @ 10% on the sugar which would generate additional revenue of Rs.100 crore annually.

At the very outset the Cabinet mourned the sad demise of wrestler turned actor Rustam-e-Hind Mr. Dara Singh, the true son of the soil, who earned name and fame in the arena of international wrestling and Indian Cinema through his hard work and dedication.  The Cabinet also recalled the outstanding contribution of Mr. Dara Singh in making the Punjabi Cinema popular amongst the masses.  A two minutes silence was also observed as a mark of respect to the deceased praying to Almighty to grant eternal peace to the departed soul and give courage to the bereaved family members to bear this irreparable loss.