The Panjab Cabinet has allowed residential units of minimum one acre (33,44 sqm) in areas excluded from the purview of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900. Expected to benefit several influential persons, politicians, serving and retired bureaucrats, the decision would regularize hundreds of existing farmhouses in the fragile Kandi area—sub-mountainous tracts along foothills of Shivalik Hills—stretching from Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar to Pathankot. A total of 55K hectares of land abutting forests with rich flora and fauna has been excluded. The change has been made to accommodate those properties which were earlier excluded from the Eco Tourism Policy, 2009 for not adhering to norms. The decision is likely to have far-reaching ecological implications. Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said, ‘the policy incorporates robust safeguards such as mandatory plantation of indigenous species, use of sustainable building materials, and provisions for rainwater harvesting and solar energy.’ He added, ‘The instructions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court (PHHC) and the Center’s (Indian government) guidelines have been adhered to.’ An environmentalist from the Public Action Committee Jaskirat Singh said, 'The policy is a clear example of conflict of interest as the policymakers themselves have stakes in the land. The details of those who have purchased land over the past few years should be disclosed.' Meanwhile, the Panjab government has informed the PHHC that a total of 5,228 gram panchayats (village councils) out of 13,241 in Panjab have no income from their own resources. In a contempt case related to the non-payment of honorarium to sarpanch (village council heads) and panch (village council members), Rural Development and Panchayats (RDP) Director Uma Shanker Gupta submitted that the total liability of such honorarium from 2013–2024 amounts to USD 8.5M. Concurrently, the RDP has introduced a new standard operating procedure for elected panchayat representatives, making it mandatory for them to seek leave sanction before leaving the country. The government had taken the decision following reports that rural development often got stalled when representatives of panchayat bodies fly abroad, mostly in winter, to visit relatives or for other work.
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