Punjab Cabinet gives nod to new food grains labour policy
Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 Aug, 2022 10:14 AM
Chandigarh, Aug 26 (IANS) The Punjab Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, on Friday gave nod to the new Punjab Food Grains Labour Policy, 2022 and the revised Punjab Food Grains Transportation Policy, 2022 to ensure wider competitive participation with increased transparency and, at the same time, reduce frivolous litigations.
A spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said the revised transportation policy is now in sync with the custom milling policy for procurement and milling of paddy, approved by the Cabinet a few days back.
The revised transportation policy mandates, for the first time ever, the installation of vehicle tracking systems in every vehicle used for transportation of food grains procured by the government.
The Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs has already initiated the process of empanelling companies, which provide vehicle-tracking systems, and making the existing Anaaj Khareed Portal compatible with these systems.
Likewise, the new labour policy aims at ensuring wider participation of labour associations by abolishing the prevailing Labour and Cartage Policy.
The existing policy, prevailing for past many decades, was perceived by many to favour participation of contractors, since it involved providing labour and transportation services by the same person.
But the new policy has completely delinked labour and transportation services, thereby providing increased opportunities to labour associations to directly participate in the tender process, which will directly increase their incomes by removing the contractor margin, the spokesperson said.
The meeting between the Chief Minister and leaders of 23 farmers' unions under the banner of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha that lasted for over two and half hours here.
Besides, the NCSC also asked the government to stop the eviction drive and maintain status quo. In a complaint to the NCSC, residents of Bhama Kalan village said they have possession of 200 acres in the village since 1947.
Talwandi Sabo Power Limited, a private firm based in Mansa, took the help of a middleman and allegedly paid Rs 50 lakh to get the visa issued for the Chinese nationals which would help it in completing a project before the deadline, according to the CBI.
The former Chief Minister hoped the state government, instead of adopting a confrontationist attitude, will co-operate and co-ordinate with the Central government to handle all the security and other issues Punjab is challenged with.
As the year-long protest against the Centre's farm laws at the Delhi borders ended in November last year with the revoking of the three Central farm laws, hundreds of Punjab farmers on Tuesday gathered on the outskirts of the state capital demanding compensation of Rs 500 per quintal for those who suffered losses due to early onset of early summer.
Based on a specific information about the presence of four suspicious persons in Ahmedabad, a team was formed under Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kanubhai Patel, which detained the four persons from the Sardarnagar area on the evening of May 12.
