Chandigarh: In a historic decision, the Punjab Cabinet led by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Monday gave nod to one time pro-people measure ‘Jehda Khet, Ohdi Ret’ to enable the farmers to remove sand and silt accumulated due to floods in their fields and sell them if they desire.

A decision to this effect was taken by the Council of Ministers in its meeting held here under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, who joined it virtually from Fortis hospital, where he was undergoing treatment.

Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that due to the floods, sand and silt have accumulated in several fields at the inundated villages. Therefore, in a major reprieve to the farmers it has been decided that farmers will be allowed to remove sand and silt from their own fields, and they may sell it if they wish. Under the policy of “Jisda Khet, Usda Rait” (One who owns the land, owns the sand), farmers in all flood-affected villages will be allowed to remove sand from their land without any permit by December 31.

The removal of silt/sand/river borne material from agricultural land by way of this “one time measure” shall not be considered mining of mineral. The concerned Deputy Commissioner shall declare the list of affected villages in a district where the operation of removal and lifting of deposited silt/sand/river borne material may be done by the affected farmers/cultivators/group of farmers affected by flood material deposition. To mitigate the impact of the recent floods, all District Mining Officers as well as District Level and Sub-Divisional Level Monitoring Committees shall facilitate the removal and lifting of such silt/sand/river borne material deposits on the affected cultivable lands, without disturbance of the original ground surface by way of pits, trenches or otherwise.

Further dwelling on agenda of crop damage, the Cabinet decided that the Punjab government will provide compensation of up to Rs 20,000 per acre, which is not the highest in the history of Punjab, but it is the highest in the entire country. This is in consonance with the commitment of the state government to bail out the farmers of Punjab in this hour of grave crisis.

GIVES NOD TO AMEND PUNJAB TOWN IMPROVEMENT ACT 1922

The Cabinet approved Amendment to the Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922 to enable the urban local bodies of the State to utilize funds of the Improvement Trusts through the Municipal Development Fund, which was established by the State Government to undertake urban infrastructure works for which allocation is received from the State Budget........

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