Chandigarh, 20 September: The Punjab Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, on Wednesday gave its approval for amendment to Section 27 of the Punjab Land Reforms Act, 1972, thus paving the way for seamless implementation of various pending infrastructure and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) projects.
Disclosing this here, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the Cabinet also authorized the Revenue Department to take further necessary action in consultation with the Legal and Legislative Affairs Department.
It may be recalled that the state government had, in 2011, exempted certain lands from the operation of Punjab Land Reforms Act, 1972, vide amendment to Section 27 the Act, to prevent any adverse impact on infrastructure and SEZ projects approved in the past as well as projects that may be set up after approval under various State/Central Laws. However, statutory rules describing the procedure, fees, competent authority etc. were not finalized, thus impeding the effective operationalisation of the amendment. The decision taken by the cabinet will remove the roadblocks in the implementation of these projects.
The Cabinet also decided to amend the proviso under sub rule (3) of rule 7 of the Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994, to provide that the total period of probation including extension shall not exceed four years, if recruitment is through direct appointment. It may be recalled that the extension period has already been enhanced from earlier three years to four years.
The Cabinet also gave the green signal to notifying the new Punjab Local Audit (Group-B) Service Rules, 2017, to exclude the cadre of Section Officer and Junior Auditor from the existing Punjab Local Fund Audit State Service (Class-3) Rules, 1979.
