10 pc NRI quota in new housing, investment policy: Pb govt

Punjab government today said 10 per cent quota has been fixed for NRI's in state's new housing and investment policy as part of its initiative to make them partner state's progress and prosperity.
"Punjab has set aside 10 per cent quota for Punjabi Diaspora in all PUDA approved schemes and industrial estates under new housing and investment policy," Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said here today.
Impressing upon the need to take care of NRI families, Badal said he had issued directions to increase marriage registration officers from 22 to 190 so as to expedite the registration of their marriages.

Describing compulsory registration of marriages and human smuggling Acts as path breaking move, Badal said," state government will be able to tackle fraudulent marriages by NRIs and the menace of illegal travel agents."
Punjab NRI Minister Bikram Singh Majithia said the state government was in the process of taking a new decisions, in which an NRI can get tenant evicted from multiple properties.
Meeting the long pending demands of NRIs to guard their properties in Punjab, Majithia informed the Deputy Chief Minister said that a state owned undertaking PESCO would supply professionally trained ex-servicemen guards for this purpose on a nominal payment.

He said NRIs during their visit to Punjab can also seek deployment of these guards for personal security, adding, Punjab Exservicemen Corporation has been asked to raise a separate battalion for NRIs.

One more NRI police station has been opened in NRI dominant districts including Amritsar.
He said that instructions have already been issued to seek approval of DSP before registering any FIR against NRI to check bogus complaints.
The Home Department informed that Punjab and Haryana High Court has been requested to set up three Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate Courts at Moga, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur and an Appellate Court at Jalandhar for civil and criminal cases of NRIs and requisite funds have been provided for the same.