Hospice. The Sukhu government of Himachal Pradesh has started preparations to amend the much talked about Section 118. The government wants to simplify this section and for this, the government presented an amendment bill in the House on Tuesday, the fifth day of the winter session of the Legislative Assembly, at Tapovan in Dharamshala. Also, in accordance with the amendment made in the Act of the Central Government, an amendment bill was presented in the state to increase the working hours in shops or other commercial institutions. Now this will be discussed in the winter session of the Assembly.
According to the information, the state government wants to amend Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act for ease of doing business and to strengthen the economy. Regarding this, Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi presented an amendment bill in the House today.
The opposition is already raising many questions regarding this, but Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said that there will be no further tinkering with Section 118. CM said that if people have purchased land for carrying out any work under Section 118 and are not able to complete the work within 5 years, then the government has no power to give them an extension. The government has brought an amendment for this right but the condition has been kept in it that if 70 percent of the work is completed in 5 years, it will be given an extension of one year and this extension will be given with penalty. He also responded to the discussions being held in the House regarding the disaster and the allegations being made by the opposition during Question Hour.
According to the information, after the passing of this bill, cooperative societies with 100 percent farmer members in the state will not require approval under Section 118 of the Land Act. The government claims that this exemption given to cooperative societies will accelerate employment generation as well as establishment of new enterprises in the state and they will be able to take fully ready buildings on short-term lease in rural areas. Even in rural areas, permission will be given to take buildings on lease for a period of 10 years. There will be no need for Section 118 Munjari in this.
Government will also give relaxation regarding buildings of HIMUDA
In the proposed amendment bill, it has been said that along with HIMUDA, people will also be allowed to buy buildings or flats built by private builders. This discount will also be available to those who purchase these buildings later, as well as non-farmers will be able to purchase fully constructed buildings.
Along with this, Industries Minister Harsh Vardhan Chauhan presented an amendment bill to increase the working hours in shops or other commercial institutions in the state in accordance with the amendment made in the Central Government Act. According to this amendment, private sector workers in the state will also be able to work 144 hours of overtime in three months of the year. For this, major changes have been proposed in the Himachal Pradesh Shops and Commercial Establishments Establishment Amendment Act, which was presented in the House today.
According to the amendments proposed in this Bill, the limit of overtime prescribed in Section 7 of the Act will be changed. At present this limit in the state is 50 hours per quarter, which will be increased to 144 hours per quarter, overtime will be paid on the basis of double the normal hourly wage, so that employees can get more earning opportunities.
What is section 118
Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972 is a law that prohibits non-Himachalis from purchasing agricultural land in Himachal Pradesh. The first CM of Himachal, YS Parmar, gets the credit for implementing this section. His main objective was that the land of small farmers and common people of the state should be saved and rich and outsiders could not buy land. However, the government gives permission to non-farmers to buy land only if a project like an industry or factory is to be set up here. If Section 118 is violated then the transfer of land is considered illegal. However, the Sukhu government has amended this Act for the second time and passed the amendment bill in the last session to give land to Dera Beas.
