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.
A senior CBI official said that a case was registered against the Ved Prakash, the SI posted at Police Station Jaffarpur Kalan, District Dwarka, Delhi on a complaint. It was alleged that the accused was demanding Rs 50,000 from the victim for helping with a complaint pending against him besides settling a land dispute in his favour.
The Chief Minister said instead of paddy, the farmer of the state is ready to sow sunflower, maize, and pulses but for that they must get adequate and assured price. He said this will help checking the depleting water table in the state, on one hand, and making agriculture a profitable venture on the other.
Two persons injured in a road accident on Tuesday-- Sumit Gaur (21),and Mahboob Siddique (20) -- were declared dead and their bodies were kept at the hospital morgue overnight. When Sumit's relatives arrived at the mortuary to claim the body on Wednesday, they found multiple bite marks on his face. The rats had nibbled the nose, they alleged.
Raids on locations related to Popular Front of India (PFI) are being carried out in eight places in Uttar Pradesh. Mohammad Waseem, resident of Indira Nagar in Lucknow, has been taken away by the NIA sleuths, according to official sources. Waseem runs a tailoring shop and digital documents were recovered from his possession during the raid.
In a statement, the Chief Minister said the government will approach the Supreme Court against the arbitrary and anti-democratic decision of the Governor to cancel the permission of holding a special session of the Vidhan Sabha after giving permission for it. He said it is an unfortunate move and they will move to the apex court against this irrational decision.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Japan on September 27 to attend the state funeral of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday. He will also separately meet his counterpart, Fumio Kishida during the visit, it said.
