Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. Tribune file

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 18

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday initiated the process of allotting free houses for the homeless poor, as promised in the Congress poll manifesto.He also directed the setting up of a committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, to formulate a legislation for regularisation of illegal colonies and transfer of ownership rights to the occupants.The Chief Minister also directed the Town Planning Department to complete work on preparing Master Plans of all cities in the state by the end of the current financial year.

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The meeting further decided on a series of measures, including allotment of project-based No Due Certificate (NDC) to promoters, in order to ease the Real Estate business in the state. The NDC will now be valid for three months, to be taken by the department on the date of application for a particular service rather than as on date of delivery of service.In another decision, the Chief Minister put his stamp of approval on the reduction of transfer fee levied by GMADA etc from 2.5% to 2% till March 31, 2018.Chairing a review meeting of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Amarinder directed the officials concerned to ensure completion of the master plans within the stipulated timeframe by outsourcing the necessary planning work, if need be.The meeting took several key decisions to create an enabling environment for the growth of the real estate sector, which has been suffering from a severe slowdown for years.The Chief Minister took note of the various suggestions presented to him by officials of the Housing and Urban Development department and issued instructions for immediate implementation of several of them, according to an official spokesperson.The suggestions presented to the Chief Minister were based on intensive discussions with the various stakeholders in the real estate sector, which was upbeat with the change in government in Punjab, the spokesperson added.The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, Chief Principal Secretary Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary Tejveer Singh and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Vini Mahajan.On the issue of regularisation of the illegal colonies, it was decided to set up a committee under the Chief Secretary to formulate the necessary legislation for their regularisation and grant of ownership rights to the occupants.The committee will have members from the Housing department, Local Bodies department and the Revenue Department, which would look into the issue of such colonies built by private promoters, on MC land and on land outside MC limits, respectively. The Finance Minister stressed the need to ensure implementation of master plans in all the cities of Punjab, which currently has only 43 cities covered by master plans. The Chief Minister ordered work on the master plans to be take up on priority, with all master plans to be made available online. A mobile app has also been launched, with effect from Tuesday, to facilitate the online procurement of property records by the allottees. The application would be extended later to cover e-payment services, such as making payments towards the allotted sites, payment user charges, viewing availability of sites with different authorities, etc.The Chief Minister directed the department to initiate the process of identification and scrutiny of beneficiaries for free houses under the Mukhya Mantri Awaas Yojana. It was also decided to implement the poll promise of 30 per cent reservation for SCs in all future allotments, besides subsidised loans to families for buying/improving MIG housing. The meeting agreed to bring in a new need-based policy for LIG housing.Taking note of the grievances of owners of marriage palaces, the Chief Minister asked the department to meet the stakeholders and take their views.Among the other key decisions taken at the meeting were single-window clearance for small investors in five major cities, fixing of reasonable reserve prices for plots and sites, review of policy to allow medium sized real estate housing project, inclusion of EWS residential projects in industrial zones in all master plans and moratorium on the payment of EDC due extended for the calendar year 2017.

Capt: Power at Rs 5 per unit to all

Month in office, says promises will be met

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 17

All power consumers in Punjab — industrial, domestic and commercial — will get power at Rs 5 per unit. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has made it clear that no category of consumers will have to pay more than Rs 5 per unit as tariff.    The decision comes despite the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) seeking a hike in tariff and the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission recommending the same.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The government does not have resources to subsidise the state’s power utilities. Nor can it burden the utilities by lowering the power rates. Hence, to fulfil its election promise of providing cheaper power, it is likely to resort to purchasing more power from private players. Talking to The Tribune, the CM said that by providing cheap power at Rs 5 per unit, Punjab would become the second cheapest power provider in the country after Himachal Pradesh. “The Mahindras are willing to provide power at Rs 1.50 per unit and Reliance Power at Rs 1.75 per unit. We will revisit all power purchase agreements and buy power at the cheapest rate possible. Isn’t it strange that the PSPCL sells surplus power at the power grid at Rs 3.40 per unit, but supplies power to the industry at Rs 8.60 per unit,” he remarked. As of now, the power tariff across various sections of consumers varies between Rs 5.53 per unit to Rs 8.60. Capt Amarinder, who completes one month in office tomorrow, said he had been trying to resurrect the state’s economy. “We have to cut down on government expenditure drastically. The Expenditure and Governance Reforms Commission will suggest how to go about it. Meanwhile, we have already embarked on our journey to boost revenue receipts. For this, I have met industry captains who have assured us of investing in Punjab. “In May first week, you will see the Sonalika Group opening its plant with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore. HMEL, which runs the Bathinda refinery, too is investing another Rs 22,000 crore while Swaraj Tractors has sought land to start another manufacturing unit, which could be near Bathinda. This will help create jobs and give us more revenue by way of taxes.”He said the government was looking at increasing revenue through plugging loopholes in tax collections, adding that the Goods and Services Tax that would be rolled out this year would also lend buoyancy to the collections.Amarinder Singh, reiterating his commitment to meet other promises made in the party manifesto, said smartphones to jobless youth would be provided by a leading telecom operator and five lakh youth given employment in the next five years via Uber and Ola taxi services. “ICICI will provide finance to buy these cars while the Mahindra group has promised us electric cars. Mini bus permits will be given to unemployed youth and they will be enrolled in a scheme under which 25,000 tractors will be given for custom farming,” he said, adding that none of the poll promises would burden the exchequer.

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Roadmap for punjab

• Govt to slash expenditure drastically; plug loopholes in tax collections
• Goods and Services Tax to lend buoyancy to revenue collections
• Leading telecom operator to provide smartphones to jobless youth
• 5 lakh youth to get jobs in next five years via Uber and Ola taxi services
• ICICI to provide finance for these cars; Mahindra group to give electric cars
• Mini bus permits for unemployed youth; 25,000 to get tractors for custom farming

 

Amarjit Singh Samra appointed Markfed chairman

Chandigarh, April 18

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday appointed senior Congress leader Amarjit Singh Samra as the chairman, Markfed, with immediate effect.Announcing this here on Tuesday, the CMO’s spokesperson said the orders of Samra’s appointment as Markfed chairman had been issued.Samra had earlier served as Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister in the Amarinder Singh government from 2002-07.

Akali-BJP govt’s Rs46,000-cr expenditure under lens

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 17

A whopping Rs46,000 crore spent by the Akali-BJP government is under the scanner of the newly constituted Expenditure and Governance Reforms Commission headed by KR Lakhanpal, former chief secretary and confidant of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.The Commission, constituted just 10 days ago, held its first meeting with Amarinder here this evening. The Commission is first looking at the Rs31,000 crore term loan taken by the previous government to clear the food grain account along with the state adopting the UDAY scheme.The previous government led by Parkash Singh Badal had decided to take over the loan of Rs22,000 crore taken by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) under the Ujjawal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) of which the state had already taken over Rs15,000 crore. Together, the two have put an additional debt burden of Rs46,000 crore on the exchequer.Sources say that Lakahnpal has already met top Finance Department officials since his appointment. The commission finding the exact magnitude of the gap between the principal amount in the foodgrain credit account and the interest charged which led to the amount ballooning to Rs31,000 crore.The terms of settlement of the loan requires the state to float bonds to repay the loan and the interest being charged on the loan as well as the interest at which the state government is allowed to float the bond so that extra charges levied can be salvaged. A third party audit of both these accounts will be conducted and an acclaimed auditor will be hired.Lakhanpal told The Tribune that the commission was still in the process of ascertaining the major sources of expenditure and curb any wasteful expenditure. “The idea is not to find fault with anybody but to react to the problem the state is facing and find a way out,” he said, adding that purpose of the commission is to give a boost to the state’s fiscal health.Sources say that the CM raised the issue of huge committed liabilities of the government which account for almost 65 per cent of its revenue and has asked the Expenditure Commission to identify areas where expenses can be curtailed and where money can be spent “wisely”.QUOTEThe commission is still in the process of ascertaining the major sources of expenditure and curb any wasteful expenditure. The idea is not to find fault with anybody, but to react to the problem the state is facing and find a way out. —KR Lakhanpal, chief, expenditure and governance reforms commission 

90 ACPs, DSPs shifted

Chandigarh: The state government on Monday issued transfer and posting orders of 90 Assistant Commissioners of Police and Deputy Superintendents of Police-level police officers on administrative grounds with immediate effect. The orders have been issued as per the old system of posting DSPs according to the Assembly constituency system. — TNS

UPSC panel to okay 15 IAS cadre posts

Chandigarh: With 1993-batch IAS officer KJS Cheema yet to be sent back to his parent cadre, the Punjab Government has asked the state Auditor General to find out how the officer kept drawing salary even after the Centre had disallowed his continuation in the state on deputation. Cheema had served as the Special Principal Secretary to the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. He was posted as Secretary, Freedom Fighters, after the Congress government took over. A West Bengal-cadre officer, Cheema has been on deputation in Punjab since 2007, when the Akali-BJP government took over. Sources in the Personnel Department confirmed that the file had been moved to seek the Auditor General’s assistance. — TNS

GURU RAM DAS JEE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Sidhu urged to help begin int’l flights

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 17

At a meeting held with representatives of the Amritsar Vikas Manch at Chandigarh, Punjab Local Bodies, Tourism and Culture Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu asked the Central Government to stop discrimination with the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport and start direct international flights immediately.Sameep Singh Gumtala of the AVM said the holy city being a spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh religion is a preferred destination for the Punjabi diaspora and foreign tourists.Since the start of the Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto flight in May 2005, occupancy was approximately 92 per cent from Amritsar. With privatisation of the Delhi airport in 2010, these flights were re-routed from Delhi. Due to this, international traffic that was approximately 75 per cent of the total traffic till 2009 took a big hit and became 75 per cent domestic and only 25 per cent direct international passengers.He said Sidhu highlighted that Delhi is the only airport in the country that is charging double User Development Fee (UDF) per passenger both for landing and departure, but still Air India and other international carriers are paying this fee and operating maximum flights from Delhi.He said Delhi Airport is recovering Rs 300 crore every month through these charges, and at this rate, by March 2019, it would have collected Rs. 17157.15 crore against the originally targeted Rs 7709.61 crore.On the other hand, Amritsar airport suffered a loss of Rs 50 crore last fiscal.Gumtala said it was high time that the government should take initiative and initiate strict action to bring the local airport in profit, which would not only reduce the inconvenience caused to the public at large, but would also utilize the public money the best possible way.There are many foreign carriers like Emirates, Etihad, Oman Air, Air Asia, Lufthansa, British Airways, Turkish, etc. who have already shown their interest to fly from Amritsar, but bilateral agreements of seat sharing and other policies of government are a hindrance in starting of these flights, which the government should look into and try bringing these airlines to the Amritsar airport by any means, he said.

SAD asked for commission, we ask for development: Manpreet

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 16

State Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal today attacked former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and former Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal for putting their personal benefits by ignoring the benefits of the public.Addressing a gathering of party leaders and workers at a religious ceremony organised by District Congress Committee president Mohan Lal Jhumba, the minister said: “While the SAD also spoke to corporate houses and big industrial houses, its leaders asked for commission from companies. The Congress is also in talks with industrial houses, but we are asking for development and opening up of employment avenues for residents of the state.”Attacking the SAD president, the minister said: “SAD leaders thought that they developed the state by building flyovers and laying roads while they ignored the real issues of drug peddling, unemployment and poverty in the state. Private companies which were given civic works on an outsourcing basis have been lagging behind and the party will look into the matter. This is also the case with several works of the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB).”Assuring the residents of the Bathinda urban constituency, the minister said the works which were of importance to the state were pertaining to civic amenities and as he had promised, soon an industry would be set up in Bathinda.He also assured the public that he would be in his constituency twice a week when he would meet people and address their problems and on the remaining days, party leaders and workers would do the same on his behalf.Narendra Bhuleria, Gurpeet Singh Kangar, Chiranji Lal Garg, Dr Satpal Bhateja, Rajan Garg, Rupinder Bindra, Pawan Mani, Darshan singh Ghudda, Arvind Garg, Surinder Gupta, Charanjti Walia and Vijay Goyal were among those others present at the ceremony.