Sale of spurious seeds to be non-bailable offence in Punjab
Punjab
Amendment) Bill 2025, which will make the sale of spurious seeds a non-bailable offence.
Briefing mediapersons after the meeting, finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the cabinet gave its consent to introduce The Seeds (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2025 to ensure the supply of high-quality seeds to farmers of Punjab.
There had been no amendment in Section 19 of the Seeds Act 1966 since its inception, due to which the fines and penalties had no deterrence.
According to the proposed provisions, the first offence by a company will invite punishment of one to two years and a fine of Rs 5 to 10 lakh, whereas punishment of two to three years and a fine of Rs 10 to 50 lakh will be imposed for repeated offences. Similarly, if a dealer or an individual is at fault, it will invite punishment of six months to one year and a fine of Rs 1 to 5 lakh for the first offence, and a term of one to two years and a fine of Rs 5 to 10 lakh for repeated offences.
Previously, such an offence was punishable by a fine of Rs 500 for the first offence, with subsequent violations carrying a fine of Rs 1,000 and imprisonment for up to six months.
The cabinet gave the nod to enact a Bill to amend the Seeds Act and insert Section 19A for contravention of Section 7 of the Seeds Act (Regulation of sales of seeds of notified kinds or varieties), enhancing the fine and penalty, making it cognisable and non-bailable.
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"It was a long-pending demand of farmers in the state who suffered losses due to substandard seeds. Both the Centre and the state are authorised to bring in such a legislation," said Cheema.
Nod to OTS for industrialists
The cabinet also gave nod for introducing a one-time settlement scheme (OTS) for the settlement of interest-free loans for seed margin money. For this, the Punjab State Aid to Industries Act, 1935, and the integrated rural development program (IRDP) will be amended.
Cheema said that the Act was not amended since 1935. "The cabinet has decided to waive Rs 97.60 crore interest on seed money of small amounts of Rs 2,000 or Rs 5,000 given since 1935. It used to be a considerable amount at that time. The seed money used to be given without any collateral security. The state govt will now recover Rs 11.54 crore from the 1,054 beneficiaries identified so far.
Mechanism to provide land parcels
The cabinet also gave concurrence for evolving a mechanism to provide land parcels (on sale or lease basis) for promoting industrial investment in the state.
The move is aimed at giving impetus to investment in the state. Till now, there was a lack of a formalised, time-bound mechanism for identifying and provisioning land parcels for investors seeking land.
Upper age for group D recruitment enhanced
In a relief to the aspirants of the group D posts, the cabinet also gave approval to amend rules 5 (b) and 5 (d) of the Punjab State (Group D) Service Rules, 1963, thereby enhancing the upper age limit from the existing 35 years to 37 years.
The age limit for appointment in Group 'D' services in Punjab was 16 to 35 years, while for Group A, B, and C posts, as per PCS Rules 1994, it was 18 to 37 years. For uniformity, the Punjab State Group-D Service Rules Rule 5(b) has been amended to keep the date on age of appointment between 18 to 37 years.
Educational qualification under Rule 5(d) has been modified from 'Middle' to 'Matriculation'.
Bids for retendering
The cabinet also gave ex post facto approval of relaxation in the time frame to invite bids in the re-tender floated for the purchase of 46,000 black polythene covers for the Rabi marketing season (RMS) 2025-26.
For ensuring safe storage, maintenance, and preservation of wheat worth Rs 30,000 crores during Rabi Marketing Season 2025-26, ex-post facto approval is sought for relaxing the period for procurement of the covers.
It was necessitated to ensure fumigation before the onset of monsoons and to safeguard open stocks from the vagaries of nature.
Punjab District Mineral Foundation Rules
The cabinet gave approval to revise Punjab District Mineral Foundation (DMF) rules as per revised GOI guidelines under Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY), 2024.
The revisions will ensure transparency in the implementation of projects, powers, duties, and responsibilities such as five-year perspective planning, high-priority sectors for utilisation of DMF funds, and restriction on fund transfer from DMF.
Advisory managing committee of temples
The cabinet gave its consent for amendments in the advisory managing committee of Kali Devi, Raj Rajeshwari Temple, Patiala, authorising the CM to nominate the chairman and members of the advisory managing committee.
Likewise, the go-ahead was given for changes in the financial powers of the chairman, secretary, members, and management committee.
Punjab Value Added Tax Rules
The cabinet also gave its concurrence for amendment in the Punjab Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, stipulating that the chairman and other members of the Punjab VAT tribunal will be entitled to HRA and DA at such rates which are applicable to officers of Punjab.
Hassle-free transportation of food grains
The cabinet also gave nod to "The Punjab Food Grains Transportation Policy 2025" and 'The Punjab Labour & Cartage Policy, 2025" for hassle-free transportation of food grains in the state. The state procurement agencies and the FCI procure food grains every season. As per the policy during the year 2025, food grain transportation works will be allotted through a competitive and transparent online tender system.
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