Chandigarh, January 20
Contrary to the expectations about more sops, the Punjab Council of Ministers today provided relief only to dhaba owners by abolishing 8 per cent tax levied on them.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the tax on dhabas fetched hardly Rs 50 lakh,
so it had been abolished.
The council also approved the setting up of two fast-track special courts, one at Patiala and the other at Jalandhar, to deal exclusively with corruption cases. Such courts would be in place soon as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had okayed the government proposal. Corruption cases would be heard by these courts on a day-to-day basis for quick disposal. When asked whether the case of corruption against the Badal family would also be heard by these courts, he said that all cases of political and bureaucratic corruption related to Punjab would be heard by these special courts. The council also approved the creation of two posts of Additional District and Sessions Judge, besides other staff, for these courts.
The council also cleared the toll policy. The Chief Minister said as most roads and bridges would now be made on a build, operate and transfer basis, there was need for a toll policy. There were approximately 7300 km of state highways and major district and other roads.
As traffic on these roads had increased manifold, these needed to be widened or four-laned, entailing an expenditure of about Rs 2500 crore. Without private participation such a huge amount could not be raised. A number of bridges and certain roads had been made with funds provided by private contractors, who would now collect toll.
