In the meeting of the Arunachal state cabinet, the council of ministers approved amendment of the Arunachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act 1997 (Act No. 5 of 2001) with provision of two tier Panchayati Raj system in consonance with Article 243(B) of the Constitution (73rd Amendment Act, 1992), as informed by government spokesperson Bamang Felix in a statement Thursday night.
Since Arunachal has just 13.84 lakhs population, the three tier Panchayati Raj system will be replaced by two tier system- Gram Panchayat and Zilla Parishad. Moreover the two tier system shall expedite planning process, quicken decision making and bring fasttrack development. The amendment bill will be placed in the ensuing budget session.
In another landmark decision, the State Cabinet approved the Arunachal Pradesh Money Lending (Regulation) Bill 2018 to be tabled in the ensuing budget session starting March 9 next.
This bill was necessitated for the rampant unregulated money lending system presently prevalent in the state which rendered people vulnerable at the hands of money lenders.
Under the new Act, 55 clauses will define regulatory framework around money lending with penal provisions.
Another notable decision the Council of Ministers took was to approve amendment of bringing a clearcut land ownership right in lieu of the existing Land Possession Certificate (LPC) system under Arunachal Pradesh Land Settlement and Record Act 2000.
The amendment bill will be tabled in the ensuing budget session. The amendment in the Act will provide ownership rights to the LPC holders. Apart from benefiting the people, the amended act will encourage investments from outside the state. It will also help people seek loans from the banks by mortgaging their land. It also seeks to enhance the period of lease of private land.
The council of ministers also approved the release of salary and wages of all regular and contingency employees through Public Financial Management System (PFMS) platform.
All salary payment will be made only in Aadhaar linked Bank accounts from next financial year. This will ensure transparency and accountability in the state.
An important bill – Arunachal Pradesh Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill 2018 was adopted and will be placed in the ensuing Assembly Session.