The Punjab government Friday reversed the pit head price of sand and gravel to Rs 5.50 per cubic feet, six months after it had jacked up the rate of the construction essential to Rs 9 per cubic feet.
A decision to this effect was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann here.
The Aam Aadmi Party government in August 2022 had fixed the pit head selling price of sand and gravel at Rs 9 per cubic feet, including loading charges — nearly nine months after the previous Congress government led by Charanjit Singh Channi had reduced these from Rs 9 to Rs 5.50 per cubic feet.
The government has been forced to reduce the prices at pit head as sand prices had skyrocketed with the commodity selling between Rs 40 to Rs 60 per cubic feet. Sources said that by reversing to the old rate, the government hopes that the prices would come down to Rs 25 to Rs 30 in the state, including transportation.
CM Mann, in a recent rejig of his Cabinet, had handed over the department of mines and geology to Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer by taking it away from Harjot Singh Bains.
Former mines minister Bains had earlier said that Channi government had took a cosmetic measure by reducing state government’s royalty from sand, from Rs 2.40 per cubic feet to 70 paise per cubic feet. It was made to appear that the contractors were bearing the difference.
However, the contractors’ share was not affected, Bains had claimed. Out of Rs 3.50 slashed, Rs 2.50 was from the state exchequer’s share. The price of sand remained unaffected but the contractors benefitted by pocketing state’s share of royalty. Bains had stated that the ground checks had revealed that the sand was never made available for Rs 5.50 to the consumers.
As per an official statement, the Cabinet also approved a proposal to increase the sum of royalty and penalty charged from transporters of sand and gravel who are unable to produce any relevant documents at the time of checking. At present these transporters were being charged at the rate of Rs 3.50 per cubic feet. Now the Cabinet has approved that this rate shall not be less than the rate fixed for sale of sand and gravel at the pit head.
Since the pit head rates of sand and gravel have revised to Rs 5.50 per cubic feet, the amount to be charged from such transporters shall now be more than Rs 5.50 per cubic feet, it said.
CM YOGSHALA
To create a mass movement for yoga in Punjab and scale up the existing yoga ecosystem, the Cabinet approved a proposal to initiate ‘CM Di Yogshala’ programme under the aegis of Guru Ravidas Ayurveda University Punjab, Hoshiarpur.
This programme will be implemented in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Patiala and Ludhiana in the initial phase. A total of 400 classes will be conducted in these cities everyday, which may be further increased based on demand. The project will have two consultants and 10 supervisors, besides 80 trainers will also be hired in each of these five cities.
SINGAPORE TOUR FOR PRINCIPALS
The Cabinet also gave consent for implementation of the scheme for teachers’ foreign training. The Department of School Education will send a batch of 36 principals to Principals Academy, Singapore and 30 principals to National Institute of Education (NIE) which is an autonomous institute of the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in FY 2022-23.
These trainings will expose them to state-of-the-art teaching practices, leadership skills, creation of teaching-learning materials and audio-visual technology adding that it will be helpful to obtain objectives of: Education in the post-pandemic world, essentials of strategic management, shaping school culture, building teachers’ professional capital, curriculum leadership, mentoring, and lesson observation skills, innovation in teaching and learning and effective communication.
117 SCHOOLS OF EMINENCE
The Cabinet also gave green signal for the implementation of a scheme for upgrading government schools into Schools of Eminence (SoE). These Schools of Eminence will serve as centers of excellence, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. SoEs will enable peer learning across institutions, and enhance learning experiences of children through contemporary schooling practices in the world of school education and in the initial phase 117 Schools will be upgraded into Schools of Eminence.
Rs 74.75 cr FOR SHAHPUR KANDI DAM PROJECT
To expedite the remaining construction work of Shahpur Kandi Dam Project, the Cabinet approved a proposal to pay Rs 74.75 crore to the concerned executing agency, which will then withdraw all three cases filed in Punjab and Haryana High Court. By implementing the decision, the work of Shahpur Kandi Dam will be expedited and direct financial benefits of Rs 58 crore per annum shall be accrued and the water going waste to Pakistan shall be utilised within India especially in Punjab.
STATE ELECTION COMMISSIONER
To ensure the conduction of Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Elections/Byelections in fair, clean and peaceful manner in the state, the Cabinet also gave the nod to appoint an eligible officer as Punjab State Election Commissioner.