Chandigarh August 13: Haryana Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal, here today, accorded approval for Amendment in the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961.

As per the amendment, since Manimajra Block is not a part of Haryana State, therefore, the words "Manimajra Block” will be deleted from the definition clause (bb) of section 2 of the Act.

The words "clause (mmm) of Section 3 of the Punjab Gram Panchayat Act, 1952" referred to in Section 2(g) (4) of the Act is substituted with the words "clause (iv) of section 2 of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994", as the Punjab Gram Panchayat Act, 1952 already stands repealed vide Act No. II of 1994, so that the term ‘Sabha Area’ referred to in Section 2(g)(4) of the Act can be defined properly.

Besides this, to avoid misinterpretation of exception Clause (i) of Section 2(g) of the Act regarding lands allegedly subject to river action will be omitted since the said Clause has already been omitted by the State of Punjab vide Punjab Act No. 19 of 1976.

The existing amount of penalty ranging from Rs. 5, 000 to Rs.10, 000 per hectare will be increased to not less than an amount equal 1 percent of the collector rate of the land per year but not exceeding 10 percent of the present collector rate of the land keeping in view the lease value of the land. This would make the penalty a real deterrent against the encroachers on shamlat lands.