Panchayat polls to be held soon: Mann
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said the panchayat elections will be held soon even as the state assembly passed a Bill aimed to hold elections for sarpanch and panch without party symbols
Chandigarh : Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said the panchayat elections will be held soon even as the state assembly passed a Bill aimed to hold elections for sarpanch and panch without party symbols.
On the concluding day of the three-day Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was tabled in the House.
Mann said the panchayat elections will be contested by candidates without party symbols.
This will remove “groupism” in villages and ensure holistic development of rural areas, he said.
Mann said any village which will elect panchayats unanimously will get a grant of ₹5 lakh cash along with a stadium, school or hospital.
The House also passed three other Bills — Punjab Goods and Service Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Punjab Fire and Emergency Service Bill, 2024 and Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema presented the Punjab Goods and Service Tax (amendment) Bill by which the state excise and taxation department has decided to waive GST on the extra neutral alcohol (ENA) supplied to liquor manufacturers for human consumption.
Speaking on the Punjab Fire and Emergency Service Bill, 2024, chief minister Bhagwant Mann said it will pave the way for further ensuring women empowerment in the state. The Bill, presented by local bodies minister Balkar Singh, paves the way for recruitment of females in fire services.
Punjab agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian tabled the Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets (amendment) Bill, 2024, which aims to increase time for reconstitution of 94 market committees from July 2023 to July 2025.