Farmers Who Diversify will Get Compensation by Punjab Government

In response to a question asked by MLA Avtar Singh Junior Forest Minister Sadhu Singh Dharmsot said the Punjab government is planning ways to adequately compensate farmers who leave wheat-paddy crop cycle, especially those who increase forest cover. 

Henry expressed concern about the state's rapidly dwindling forest cover, claiming that Jalandhar had less than 0.5 percent forest area remaining, while Hoshiarpur and Ropar had about 20%. Farmers should be fairly rewarded for the time they were unable to grow any crops on their land, he said. 

Minister Dharmsot said that he will speak with Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh about the matter. In response to the Forest Department's claims that it will provide 11.98 lakh plants and 30 lakh saplings separately for increasing forest cover in the state during 2019-2020, AAP MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan said the government lacked a system to assess the progress or shortcomings of the plantation drives. 

AAP MLA Aman Arora said the government's assertions that all of the state's districts, blocks, and villages are "Open Defecation Free" were false, citing images of areas where people did not have access to sanitation. 

Razia Sultana, Minister of Water Supply and Sanitation, responded that the villagers in question had ‘possibly' never applied for the scheme. 

In response to a question from MLA Rajinder Beri about public complaints about issues with online building plan submissions, Local Government Minister Brahm Mohindra said the online procedure demonstrated right case improvement and would be rendered time-bound.  

Employees who work in the mid-day meal service can see an increase in pay: 

In response to a question from BJP MLA Arun Narang about the insufficient honorarium charged to mid-day meal staff, Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said, 'against the sum of Rs 600 paid by the Centre, we are paying Rs1,700 a month, and we have forwarded a request to the Finance department to increase the amount to Rs 3,000.'