Chandigarh, March 31 (IANS) The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday gave nod for hiking the compensation due to unseasonal rains by 25 per cent per acre.
A decision to this effect was taken by the Council of Ministers at its meeting held here.
A spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said keeping in view the loss incurred by the farmers due to rains, the Cabinet decided to enhance the relief amount from Rs 12,000 per acre to Rs 15,000 per acre for 76-100 per cent for loss of crops.
This measure will give a healing touch to the affected farmers who will be able to get a reasonable financial relief from the government. These relief rates will be applicable from March 1.
Keeping in view the larger public interest, the Cabinet also gave its consent to extend the exemption of 2.25 per cent stamp duty and fees to those registering their property or land by April 30.
Those opting for registration of land will now be exempted from one per cent additional stamp duty, one per cent PIDB fees and 0.25 per cent special fees.
It also gave approval for hiring 2,574 Kisan Mitras and 108 field supervisors in the Agriculture Department.
These Kisan Mitras and field supervisors will encourage the farmers to get out of the rut of wheat and paddy circle and cultivate less water guzzling crops like cotton and basmati.
This step will act as a catalyst to save groundwater by boosting crop diversification programme on one hand and providing employment to the youth of the state on the other.
Presiding over the valedictory function of three-day Punjabi cinema, television and theatre mega show jointly organised by the Punjabi Film and TV Actors' Association and Punjabi University here, he reiterated his government's firm commitment that no student would be bereft of higher education due to paucity of funds.
Nishad, the main accused has reportedly fled the country. Property worth Rs 36.62 crore belonging to Nishad and others were earlier attached by the ED. Gafoor, the director of Stox Global Brokers Private Limited, was arrested as Rs 39 crore which was reportedly proceeds of crime was transferred through his firm. The ED has claimed that his firm is basically a shell company.
Responding to the question of Samajwadi Party Member Rewati Raman Singh, the Minister of State, Health, Bharati Pawar said that altogether, 22 All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) are being set up in the country. Out of 10 proposed in the first phase, six have started functioning with all departments.
Along with this, the party has also started a digital membership campaign. This was announced on Sunday at the workers' conference in Jaipur. The AAP announced fresh beginnings for the election preparations from this conference.
Making an announcement in a video message, he said the Aam Aadmi Party government's scheme is aimed at providing good quality ration 'atta' (wheat flour) and 'daal' (pulses) to the people packed in clean gunny bags.
About 105.14 lakh farmers have been benefited with an MSP value of Rs 1,45,358.13 crore, government data showed. Apart from Punjab (1,87,28,335 MT) and Chhattisgarh (92,01,000 MT), the other top paddy procurement states included Telangana (70,22,000 MT), Uttar Pradesh (65,53,029 MT) Odisha (57,16,134), Haryana (55,30,596), Madhya Pradesh (45,82,610), and Bihar (44,90,319 MT).
