Panjab Vidhan Sabha Passes Four Bills Unanimously

Panjab Assembly conducted its Winter Session on 28-29 Nov. On Day 1, members of the ruling AAP and principal opposition INC exchanged heated arguments over illegal mining but there was no time to raise Zira, teachers, farmers, law and order, or any other issue. Panjab CM Mann accused the BJP-led central government of being ‘anti-Panjab’ and said if it gets its way, it will not hesitate to drop ‘Panjab’ from the national anthem. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema announced that in the appointment of law officers, the government has reserved 58 posts for Scheduled Castes and 178 posts are in the General Category. The government passed four Bills - Transfer of Property (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Registration (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Punjab Canal and Drainage Bill, 2023. All Bills were unanimously passed without any discussion, and without incorporating member comments. The way the Bills were passed was reminiscent of how the BJP passed the draconian Farm Laws in Sep 2020. For instance, INC’s Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar raised relevant points on the Drainage Bill, but no answers were provided. Earlier, on Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary, the AAP government announced the Mukhya Mantri Tirth Yatra Yojna under which elderly people would go on pilgrimage free of charge on trains and buses. This is what SAD did in its 2012-17 tenure, but the question is about funds. To raise funds, the new Bills make provisions for the government to levy a 2% stamp duty on property transfer and a 0.25% registration fee on home and vehicular loans.