Punjab: The state government will convene a special session of the Assembly on February 24 and 25. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Council of Ministers chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. The Cabinet met after a gap of four months. Though the government claimed that the session was being called to pass some important, time-barred bills, sources said it was being done to fulfil the constitutional requirement of convening a session within six months of the previous session. The six-month period after the last session ends on March 3. The budget session is likely to be convened in mid-March. In the meeting, the Cabinet approved the creation of 3,000 jobs in the government sector.
It also approved exemption of stamp duty, registration fee and other additional charges for transfer of land to “NICDC Punjab Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited”, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the integrated manufacturing cluster being developed as part of the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor. The project aims to boost local commerce and create a conducive environment for investment. The project will generate employment for about 32,724 people in the industrial sector and 14,880 in the non-industrial sector. The Cabinet also hiked the financial assistance given to acid attack victims from Rs 8,000 per month to Rs 10,000 per month. After the meeting, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said the decision to land the second flight of deportees from the US again at Amritsar on February 15 shows the BJP-led central government’s bias towards Punjab. “Maximum deportees are from Haryana and Gujarat and very few are from Punjab. Our government will take up the issue,” he said.
