Punjab cabinet nod to upgrade 2 engg colleges into varsities
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab cabinet on Friday gave its nod to upgrade Shaheed Bhagat Singh State Technical Campus, Ferozepur, and Beant College of Engineering and Technology, Gurdaspur, as state-level universities.
The relevant Bills will be tabled in the current Budget Session of the Vidhan Sabha, an official spokesperson said after a meeting of the cabinet chaired by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh.
With the enactment of the Bills, the institutions will be named Shaheed Bhagat Singh State University and Sardar Beant Singh State University. The upgrade will enable both these institutes to start multidisciplinary courses with its existing infrastructure, as per the needs of surrounding areas, besides improving their financial position.
The finance department has approved ₹45 crore initially for the next three years (₹15 crore/ year) for each of the two universities, which will be mentored by IIT Ropar to attract students, Technical education minister Charanjit Singh Channi informed the cabinet.
The CM said the continuation of the grant will be reviewed after 3 years.
Abadi Deh (Record of Right Bill) approved
The cabinet also gave its go-ahead to introduce the Punjab Abadi Deh (Record of Right) Bill, 2021 in the ongoing budget session.
It also accorded approval to amend Section 2 of Punjab Village Common Land (Regulation) Act 1961 to safeguard the vacant lands within Abadi Deh or Lal Lakir or Gorah Deh from illegal encroachment by inserting section 2(g)(1) and sub-section 4(a) after section 2(g)(4).
The cabinet also gave approval to release ₹36.70 crore to Punjab Agro Foodgrains Corporation on account of administrative charges for the work done by it during the Rabi marketing season.
Tabling of Bill against red-tape okayed
The cabinet also okayed the Punjab Anti-Red Tape Bill to be tabled in the ongoing session.
Part of the government’s reforms agenda for improving delivery of services to public and ease of doing business to industry, the Bill contains provision to reduce the cost and burden of compliances on the citizens and businesses, through simplified, trust-based procedures that would expedite processes and make governance efficient.
The Bill would be instrumental in improving the governance systems to help citizens and businesses by removing inefficiencies and red tape in the system.