Punjab Cabinet on Thursday gave nod to formulate a new Agriculture policy in the state for ensuring the welfare of the farmers on one hand and giving impetus to the food production on the other. With the traditional agriculture in the state reaching a stage of plateau, it is imperative to formulate a robust agriculture policy to give boost to food production. It is also necessary for saving the groundwater for our coming generations and making agriculture a profitable venture, said the government spokesperson. The new agriculture policy will be formulated by taking into confidence all the major stakeholders.   Education Policy The Cabinet also gave its concurrence for introducing Education Policy in the state for giving major thrust to skill and technical based education. This will help in opening new avenues of employment for the youth of the state thereby making them an integral part of the socio-economic growth of Punjab. This policy will focus on effectively transforming Education in the state so that youth can be immensely benefited from it.   OTS III to be Expanded to Befit Maximum Traders The Cabinet also gave its consent to expand the ambit of OTS III for pending VAT cases for befitting the maximum number of traders. Notably, the ongoing scheme has immensely benefited the traders and in comparison to the previous schemes, that were totally flop, the State Government had earned Rs 164 crore more than the previous fiscal years through this OTS scheme. The formal orders for the expansion of this scheme will be issued shortly.   Major relief to the owners of good vehicles, three-wheeler (passenger) auto rickshaws In a major relief to the owners of good vehicles and three wheeler (passenger) auto rickshaws in the State, the Cabinet also gave nod to do away with the process of paying the tax after every quarter that caused harassment of the owners. The owners of these old commercial vehicles can now deposit the lump sum tax of their vehicles annually thereby saving their time, money and energy. The buyers of new such vehicles have been given the option of paying this tax for four years or eight years thereby availing a discount of 10 percent or 20 percent respectively.

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