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.
Farmers stated that they have been protesting at zero point of Yamuna Expressway for the last three days for their various demands, yet they are being ignored. "The District Administration wants to forcefully end the protest, but we will not allow it to happen," they alleged. Recently, Rakesh Tikait, the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, had also come to participate in this demonstration.
During the parole, he will be staying on the Dera's premises in Rajasthan. He has been lodged in Sunaria jail since 2017 after being convicted in rape and murder cases. Last year he was also released from the jail thrice for various reasons, including his plea to meet the ailing mother.
Shubham Garg, 28, who is pursuing PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of New South Wales, was stabbed multiple times on his face, chest and abdomen when he was walking along the Pacific Highway while returning to his place of residence.
The police said that they got the PCR call at around 11.15 p.m. that the flight which was coming from Moscow, and was scheduled to land at 3.20 a.m., had a bomb in it. After receiving the call all the security agencies were put on standby the whole night.
One of her daughters,the woman said, was sexually exploited by the accused seer till she attained puberty. She had admitted her daughters to SJM Kannada medium school in 2016 in third and first standards. They stayed at the mutt's residential facility.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday failed to reach a consensus over the contentious Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue at a crucial meeting on the issue held here.
