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.
The All-Party meet on India's G-20 Presidency was a productive one. I thank all leaders who participated in the meeting and shared their insights. This Presidency belongs to the entire nation and will give us the opportunity to showcase our culture.
Out of 23 districts of Punjab, the five hotspot districts with maximum number of crop burning events during the current year are Sangrur, Bhatinda, Firozpur, Muktsar and Moga, recording a total of 21,882 fire counts, which is 43.83 per cent of total fire counts during current year.
The passengers sitting in the train said that a rod came crashing through the window of the coach and hit the neck of a young man sitting on the window seat. After the accident, the train stopped at Aligarh station at around 9.23 a.m., where the body of the deceased was handed over to Aligarh GRP and an inquiry was ordered.
A SpiceJet flight from Jeddah to Calicut was diverted to Cochin where it made an emergency landing on Friday. The flight carrying 197 passengers had to make an emergency landing at the Cochin International Airport (CIAL) on Friday evening following hydraulic failure.
Meanwhile, the prison authorities have also increased the security of his barrack after the police van was attacked by men, who were armed with swords. Though his confessions in the narco test cannot be used in the court, yet it proved that the investigators were proceeding in the right direction.
The victim sent payments worth $48,000 to the Paypal account of the accused. Even after receiving the extortion money the accused did not stop and further sent threatening emails to the victim asking him to buy an iPhone charger and earphones.
