Punjab Assembly unanimously passes 7 bills during specially convened one-day session

Punjab Assembly on Friday unanimously passed seven bills during a specially convened one-day session amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, said the state government.

Punjab Assembly on Friday unmously passed seven bills during a specially convened one-day session amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, said the state government.

The session chaired by Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana KP Singh, the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh with his several Cabinet colleagues was also present.

According to Information and Public Relations Department, Punjab, during the session, the assembly passed the legislation for setting up Sri Guru Teg Bahadur University of Law at Tarn Taran to commemorate the 400th Birth Anniversary of the Ninth Sikh Guru Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji.

The bill Sri Guru Teg Bahadur State University of Law, Punjab Bill, 2020 was presented by Higher Education Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa.

The assembly also unmously approved the Punjab Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Amendment Bill, 2020. Presenting the bill Higher Education Minister Bajwa said that the legislation would pave the way for extending the period of parole in the situation of disasters, epidemics and extreme emergencies.

"The rationale behind bringing the legislation was to enable the Jail Department to take measures to decongest jails, besides ensuring that the jails remain Covid-19 free, as readmitting the inmates released on parole/interim bail, who reside in different parts of the state and outside, would expose other inmates to the risk of contracting Covid-19," the press statement read.

Notably, the Punjab Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1962 did not have any provision through which parole of prisoners could be extended from 16 weeks and the condition of parole being availed on a quarterly basis could be waived in unprecedented situations of disasters and epidemics, it said.

The assembly also passed the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Second Amendment) Bill 2020. The bill was presented by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal.

The Punjab assembly also gave nod to The Punjab Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Bill 2020. The bill was presented by Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu.

The assembly also approved The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2020. Presenting the bill Punjab Labour Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said that the necessary amendment envisages raising the number of workers for attracting the provisions of sub-clause (a) and (b) of sub section (4) of section 1 of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, from 20 to 50.

The Assembly also gave green signal to The Industrial Disputes (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2020. Presenting the bill Labour Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said that the bill provides for enhancement of the threshold limit for applicability of Chapter V-B from the present limit of 100 to 300 workers.

Apart from this, now workers will be eligible for 3 months of extra wages on retrenchments or on the closure of establishments. This move will go a long way in further improving the process of ease of doing business.

Meanwhile, the assembly also passed The Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020. Presenting the bill Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal said that the bill seeks to provide changes so as to make the levy and collection of taxes under the GST effective and easier for the taxpayers.

He said that these composition levies, eligibility and conditions for taking input Tax credit, cancellation of registration, revocation of cancellation of registration, tax invoice, tax deduction at source, penalty and punishment for certain offences and transitional arrangements for input Tax Credit.

( With inputs from ANI )