Chandigarh, December 17: In a bid to further improve ease of doing business in the state and fulfil one of the conditions imposed by Central Government for obtaining additional borrowing of 2% of GSDP, the Captain Amarinder Singh led Cabinet on Thursday approved amendment to Rule 29 and insertion of new Rule 78A to Punjab Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Rules, 1973.The new Rule 78A will allow industrialists to maintain different prescribed registers in electronic/digital formats to reduce their compliance burden, in line with the demand of the industries to this effect.This investor-friendly initiative would further encourage digitalisation of records, and help ensure transparency and easy access to records, thereby not only complying with the requirements of Government of India but also enabling the state to attract huge investments by ensuring congenial investment climate.Instructions relating to additional borrowing of 2% of GSDP were received from Ministry of Finance (Department of Expenditure), GoI, on May 17, 2020 in which certain conditions were imposed for obtaining additional 2% borrowing. One of the conditions was to have automatic renewals under the Labour Laws. At present, there is no provision of auto renewal of license under the Punjab Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Rules, 1973. Hence, there was need to amend the aforementioned rules to facilitate the industries with provision of auto renewal.
AMRIT SAGAR MITTAL’S APPOINTMENT OKAYED EX-FACTO
The Cabinet also gave ex-post facto approval to the appointment of noted industrialist Amrit Sagar Mittal as Vice Chairman of the Punjab State Planning Board in the rank and status of Cabinet Minister, besides also approving the terms and conditions in this regard. The appointment period of the Vice Chairman has been fixed from his joining date i.e. July 30, 2019 till April 11, 2022.
56TH ANNUAL ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT OF CIVIL AVIATION DEPARTMENT APPROVED
In another decision, the Punjab Cabinet has approved the 56th Annual Administrative report of the Civil Aviation department for the year 2019-20.
