Punjab Assembly passes 4 Bills including canal and drainage Bill

The Punjab Assembly Wednesday passed four Bills, including the Punjab Canal and Drainage Bill, 2023, aimed to regulate and manage canals and drainage in the state.

On the concluding day of the two-day Punjab Assembly session, the three other Bills passed were the Transfer of Property (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Registration (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023.

Water Resources Minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra tabled the Punjab Canal and Drainage Bill, 2023, in the House.

The main objective of the Bill is to ensure hindrance-free canal waters to farmers and land owners for irrigation purposes, maintenance, repair and timely cleanliness of canals, drainages and natural water courses. Apart from this, it aims to ensure a fair and transparent mechanism for redressal of grievances of water users and other regulatory restrictions against unnecessary wastage of water.

In an official statement, Jauramajra said the Bill has the provision that the state government will provide means of crossing canals and other natural water bodies. ''The government shall provide and maintain suitable means of crossing canals for the reasonable convenience of the inhabitants of the adjacent lands,'' he said, adding that the government may issue a general policy for bridge or ramps (fields paths, foot bridges etc) on canal from time to time as and when required.

Similarly, settlement of disputes between the land owners related to the maintenance and cleaning of the water courses will be ensured, he added.

The Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023 was presented by Revenue Minister Bram Shanker Jimpa.

The Act provides for certain provisions for smooth levy and collection of stamp duty. “In order to remove ambiguities in regard to levy and collection of stamp duty for entry 6 and 48 of the schedule 1-A of the act, the provisions relating to above mentioned entries are proposed to be streamlined. To facilitate the general public, amendment is being carried out for better implementation,” it stated.

The two other Bills - the Transfer of Property (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Registration (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023 were also tabled by Jimpa.

Later, the Speaker adjourned the House sine die.

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