PUNJAB

There has been a significant nine per cent rise in stubble burning incidents in Punjab between September 15 and October 26 this year in comparison to the corresponding period in 2021 which is a matter of concern, the Commission for Air Quality Management said on Thursday.

It said the total number of farm fires in Haryana has, however, reduced by 26 per cent as compared to last year in the same period.

In view of the spike in stubble incidents, the commission has taken up the matter with the Punjab government for effective implementation of action plan, including strategies for stubble management, the CAQM said.

As per the standard protocol developed by ISRO for CAQM, between September 15 to October 26, total paddy residue burning events reported in Punjab are 7,036 compared to 6,463 for the same period during the last year, which is a significant increase of about nine per cent.

Dr Verka said that under the post matric Scholarship scheme for SC, a Freeship Card scheme has been introduced to ease the difficulties of students in admission in different institutions.

After obtaining the cards under this scheme, the students become eligible for admission in any educational institution under post matric scholarship. Earlier, students belonging to the SC community faced various difficulties in getting admission under the Post-Matric Scholarship scheme. With this unique scheme, the difficulties faced by the students have been largely resolved, he added. Meanwhile, on the Ministers instructions, the Department of Social opened the Ambedkar Scholarship Portal for receiving the applications for post-matric scholarships 2021-22. The educational institutions have been directed to forward complete cases of eligible SC and BC students by November 30.

The approving authority will send the proposal to the sanctioning authority on the Ambedkar Scholarship Portal by December 10. Last date for the sanctioning authority to forward the cases to the welfare department has been fixed on December 15, 2021.

To help Punjab better manage its financial Resources and improve access to public Services, the on Tuesday approved a loan of 150 million US dollars to the Indian state.

The decision was approved by the World Banks Board of Executive Directors. As per the official statement, the international financial institution would support Punjabs efforts to strengthen the institutional capabilities of various government departments, manage fiscal risks, and make informed policy choices to support sustainable Growth.

The new projects will support the State’s development goals by strengthening the planning, BUDGETING and monitoring functions, and leveraging digital technology, besides increasing accountability in the public procurement systems by supporting the state-wide implementation of new legal and policy reforms.

The project will pilot two initiatives it will introduce a performance-based grants system to incentivize municipal corporations to improve service delivery; and it will demonstrate the delivery of 24×7 water supply in select areas in the cities of Amritsar and Ludhiana. It will improve water delivery systems and reduce water leakages. The success of these pilots is expected to offer a significant potential for the state-wide scale-up of improved service delivery.

As many as 53 lakh households are expected to be covered under the decision, taken during a Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday. The state Cabinet also decided that disconnected electricity connections of consumers, who could not pay their bills, will also be restored.

Maintaining that the Government would bear the burden for the sake of the poor, the Chief Minister said that the waiver would mean a burden of Rs 1200 crore on the state exchequer, which could even be more as these are just the estimates.

The Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture department has classified the damage in four different categories. It has found that crop on 2,053 acres has been damaged 75 to 100% whereas 2,508 acres has witnessed damage from 50 to 75%. The crop on 452 acres has witnessed 0 to 25% damage while around 858 acres witnessed 25 to 50% damage.

Quite contrary to the tall claims made to bring Punjab out of the fiscal mess five years back, the five-year Congress rule pushed the state further into vicious debt trap, says a latest report by the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) tabled in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday.

As per the the State of Finances Report for the financial year 2020-21, it was found that the outstanding total debt of the state was Rs 2,49,673 crore (47.13 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product) as on March 31, 2021. In just four years of the Congress rule, between 2017-18 and 2020-21, the states debt increased by Rs 54,521 crore.

Total debt of the typically constitutes internal debt of the state (market loans, ways and means advances from the RBI, special securities issued to National Small Savings Fund and loans from financial institutions, etc.), loans and advances from the Central Government, and public account liabilities.

The Cabinet Minister said that Punjabs Industrial Policy is the best in the country due to which the state has witnessed worth Rs 91,000 crore in the last four years.

He added that Punjab is a favourite destination for the industrialists and of the 2,900 investment proposals, 51 percent have already started their businesses, including 20 foreign firms.

The Minister said the State Government has come up with the Right to Business Act and Single Window system to ensure solution of all issues under-one-roof which further provided Ease of Doing Business and saved precious times of the industrialists.

The decision was taken by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday while chairing a high-level meeting of the Punjab Land Record Society. Mann emphasized on introducing these reforms to facilitate the people. All the records pertaining to land must be put online so that people are benefitted from it and they can get the land record in a single click. The land record must be available in simple Punjabi language so that the people do not face any sort of inconvenience in reading it, he added.

The Chief Minister asked the officers to ensure that all the records in the state are fully digitized. Record Rooms, both at State as well as District and Sub-Division levels, should be maintained with the highest quality. To bring transparency and efficiency in the working of the Revenue Department, the registration works and office jobs will be made faceless, he added.

The Chief Minister also reviewed the computerization projects of the Department of Revenue in the state and batted for its early completion. He said that the civil works and furniture for construction and renovation of District Administrative Complexes, Tehsil Complexes, Sub Tehsils Complexes, Modernization of Sub Registrar Offices, Patwar workstations, and Fard Kendras must also be ensured in a time-bound manner.

Punjab New and Sources Department on Wednesday launched Punjab State Energy Action Plan to ensure promotion of Energy Efficiency in buildings, industries, municipalities, Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture, transport and other sectors. The Energy Action Plan is aimed at assisting Punjab government departments or agencies to adopt most sustainable, long-term, and inter-sectoral renewable or clean energy plan.

The states Additional Chief Secretary (New and Renewable Energy Sources) A Venu Prasad, PEDA chairman HS Hanspal, and Head of Indo-German Energy Programme GIZ Dr Winfried Damm also launched Decision Support Tool (DST) along with the Amritsar Smart City Portal and Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO) portal for the state of Punjab.

PEDA has also signed a MoU with GIZs IGEN Access to Energy programme funded by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development for seeking technical assistance with the help of a well-experienced team of consultants and representatives of over 20 departments or organizations.

Emphasizing on the need for fast-tracking implementation of the action plan and reviewing the progress quarterly, he asked all the departments to come forward to equip their office buildings with solar panels to decarbonize the power sector, which will help in reducing their power consumption charges to 25 to 30 per cent.

In a major pro-farmer decision aimed at safeguarding their interests during natural calamities, the Punjab Cabinet on Friday gave nod for enhancing the compensation due to natures fury by 25 per cent per acre thereby giving a major respite to the food growers.

Keeping in view the loss incurred by the farmers recently due to heavy rains, hailstorms, and strong winds, the Cabinet has decided to enhance the relief amount from Rs 12,000 per acre to Rs 15,000 per acre for 76-100 per cent 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, said a spokesperson of the Chief Ministers Office, adding that these relief rates will be applicable from March 1, 2023.