In a bid to provide much needed relief to the people of the state, the Cabinet today approved to abolish octroi on Petrol and Diesel in Punjab. A decision to this effect was taken in a meeting of Council of Ministers held under the Chairmanship of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here at Punjab Bhawan this evening. Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the Cabinet also gave nod for the requisite amendments in the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 and Punjab Municipal Fund Act, 2006. The state government would issue required Ordinances in this regard immediately. It may be recalled that the state Government had already abolished octroi on all items except electricity, petrol and diesel with effect from 1st September, 2006. However, the levy of octroi of petrol and diesel is adversely affecting the sale of these products in urban areas of the state, which are adjacent to other states, because the rate of these products in the neighbouring states is much less. Therefore there is a need to abolish octroi on petrol and diesel which is currently charged at the rate of 1 percent and 2 percent on diesel. Hence the amendment to the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911 has been proposed. The state government would compensate the Local Govt. department by enhancing the share of Local Bodies in the VAT from existing 10 percent to 11 percent which would offset the revenue loss following the abolition of octroi. To enable the panchayats to give land to government departments, boards and corporations for implementation of projects of public importance, the Cabinet also decided to remove the condition on the panchayat retaining 50% of the cultivable land available with it after sale, gift or exchange as provided under Section 5 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961. The state government would soon issue Ordinance in this regard after following due legal procedure. In another significant decision, the Cabinet also decided that no retired official of the state government except the PCS would be re-employed in any form in future.