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{Punjab cabinet meet} Mann govt okays custom milling policy for 2024-25 kharif season

Chandigarh
The Punjab cabinet on Tuesday approved the Punjab Custom Milling Policy for kharif 2024-25 for conversion of paddy procured by the state procurement agencies — Pungrain, Markfed, Punsup and PSWC — into custom milled rice and its delivery into the central pool.
A decision to this effect was taken by the council of ministers at its meeting held under the chairmanship of chief minister Bhagwant Mann at his official residence in Chandigarh.
A spokesperson of the chief minister’s office said the kharif marketing season, 2024-25, started from October 1 and the procurement of paddy will be completed by November 30.
The department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs, Punjab, issues custom milling policy every year before the commencement of the kharif marketing season to get the paddy milled which is procured by the state agencies as per the specifications laid down by the Centre.
According to the policy, rice mills will be linked online to the mandis by the department. The paddy allocation to rice millers under RO (paddy against release order) scheme will be automatic through an online portal.
Millers will deliver rice of paddy stored up to March 31 as per policy and agreement.
Environmental clearance fee cut
The cabinet also gave nod to reduce the environmental clearance processing fee by introducing seven slab-based processing fee structure for granting environmental clearance. The processing fee for granting environmental clearance in Punjab for industrial projects is ₹10,000 per crore of total project cost, which includes the cost of land, building, infrastructure and plant and machinery.
According to the new slab, projects with a cost of ₹5 crore will be charged one-time environmental clearance processing fee of ₹25,000, for projects costing between ₹5 to ₹25 crore, the fee will be ₹1.5 lakh and for projects costing between ₹25 crore and ₹100 crore, the fee will be ₹6.25 lakh.
Similarly, projects worth ₹100-250 crore will be charged ₹15 lakh, for projects worth ₹250-500 crore, it will be ₹30 lakh, for project worth ₹500-1000 crore, it will be ₹50 lakh and for project having cost more than ₹1000 crore, the fee will be ₹75 lakh, the spokesperson said.
The processing fee for remaining categories of projects (such as building and construction, area development and mining) would remain the same as already notified.
Dam rehabilitation project approved
The cabinet also gave consent to the dam rehabilitation and improvement project, Phase 2, and Phase 2, at a projected cost of ₹281 crore. This ambitious project will be carried out with the support and cooperation of the World Bank and is aimed at strengthening the dams across the state.
Of these ₹281 crore, ₹196.7 crore (which is 70% of the project cost) will be availed as loan and 30% of the cost which is around ₹84.3 crore will be funded through budgetary support by the state government.
Property rights to landless farmers
The cabinet approved the Punjab bhondedar, butemar, dohlidar, insar, miadi, mukarraridar, mundhimar, panahi qadeem, saunjidar or taraddadkar (vesting of proprietary rights) Rules, 2023.
The measure is part of agrarian reforms to empower tillers of such land who belong to the economically and socially weaker sections of the society. These tenants have been in occupation of small parcels of land for several years and inherit their rights by succession from generation to generation. However, since they were not recorded as owners, they could neither access financial institutions for crop loans nor get calamity relief, the spokesperson said.
Policy for removal of encroachments
The cabinet accorded consent for framing a policy for removal and/or regularisation of encroachments on the public lands by the government educational institutions, hospitals, dispensaries, police stations and others. This step will help in resolving the disputes of encroachment by government departments on municipal or public lands.
Nod to filling of 166 posts in higher education dept
The council of ministers gave consent to filling of 166 posts the department of higher education and languages through outsourcing by PESCO for the head offices, units and centers of NCC.
It also approved restructuring of the stenography cadre of the police department.
The cabinet also gave nod to revise the educational qualifications of craft instructors in industrial training institutes (ITIs).

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