The Punjab Cabinet today gave a go ahead to the Punjab Municipal Outdoor Advertisement policy -2012 which would be applicable to all advertisements within the limits of Municipalities across the state.A decision to this effect was taken by the Council of Ministers in a meeting held here today under the Chairmanship of Punjab Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal at CMO, this morning.Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the policy was primarily designed to ensure that outdoor advertisement was not hazardous to traffic. The spaces meant for outdoor advertisement would be auctioned in a transparent manner to stop illegal practices in the trade. The Cabinet also approved to bring an Ordinance for amending the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911 to ensure the implementation of the new Punjab Municipal Outdoor Advertisement Policy, 2012 and Municipal Outdoor Advertisement bye-laws- 2012.In a bid to ensure effective functioning and streamlining of the state administration, the Cabinet also gave nod for creating 68 posts in the Directorate of Governance Reforms (DGR). The DGR was instrumental in improving the office procedures and systems besides carrying out administrative reforms and e-governance in all departments of the state government.Responding to the proposal moved by the Chief Minister off the agenda, the Cabinet approved to contribute an amount of Rs 10 lakh and Rs 7.50 lakh from the discretionary funds of the Ministers and Chief Parliamentary Secretaries every year for the construction of ‘Jang-e-Azaadi’ memorial coming up at Kartarpur near Jalandhar to showcase the enormous contribution of Punjabis in the national freedom struggle.The Cabinet also gave nod to form a Cabinet Sub Committee under the Chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal to device a comprehensive policy for maintenance of Sewerage, Water Supply, Storm Water and Roads in the urban areas. The committee would comprise Finance Minister, Local Government Minister, Rural Development Minister and Health Minister as members.The Cabinet also approved the freight charges of nearly Rs 35.50 crore to be borne out by the state government on account of transportation of nearly 16 lac Million Ton paddy to the districts having surplus milling capacity from Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Kapurthala and Jalandhar, as the procurement agencies were not in a position to incur this expenditure.The Cabinet also gave approval to amend section 100 of Punjab Land Revenue Act 1987 by inserting a provision, “The state Government may fix a scale of fees to be charged from any land owner seeking demarcation of his estate.”The Cabinet also gave green signal to the proposal mooted by the Irrigation department to enhance the rates of canal water for drinking purposes from Rs 12 per 6000 cubic foot and Rs 32 per 2500 cubic foot for its bulk supply to Rs 18 and Rs 48 respectively, with a provision of 2 % hike in these rates annually.The Cabinet also approved the proposals put forth by the Food and Civil Supplies department for the smooth and prompt procurement of paddy during the Kharif Marketing season 2012-13 relating to gunny bags/baardana, labour and transportation arrangements, cash credit limit, lifting of stock during procurement, Paddy policy and custom milling policy 2012-13 besides grievances redressal mechanism for farmers.The Cabinet also approved amending the Punjab (Institutions and Other Buildings) Tax Act, 2011 to exclude Charitable hospitals from the ambit of the Act.The Cabinet gave approval for the signing of MoU between the state Rural Development &Panchayat Department and IL&FS Cluster Development Initiative Limited for the “Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA 2.0)” as a central sector scheme to be implemented through Public Private Partnership in the state to ensure urban public utilities in the rural sector.The Cabinet also gave approval for transferring the land/building of Faridkot Co-operative Sugar Mill to the state government to enable its sale along with the plant machinery and other miscellaneous assets by PUDA under the OUVGL scheme after developing it.