In a bid to commercially exploit vacant plots of land under its ownership, the Department of Posts is planning to set up a Postal Land Development Authority (PLDA), a limited liability special-purpose vehicle aimed at setting up Postal Estates on around 1,900 such plots. A proposal to this effect is likely to come up for approval before the Union Cabinet on Thursday.The move, akin to the Railway Ministry’s plan of setting up a Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), is essentially aimed at consolidating the vacant plots of land lying unused with the Department of Posts. The move is expected to contribute in improving the brand image of the department, in addition to allowing commercial utilisation of existing building and real estates.The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), in the past, has directed the Department of Posts to come up with a plan to commercially exploit the vacant land it owns in consultations with the Finance Ministry and Urban Development department. Following this, the Postal Services Board approved the note for setting up the PLDA. Following the Planning Commission’s advice, the Department of Posts, in July 2006, engaged a consultant to undertake a market survey on commercial development of land on four vacant plots.The Union Cabinet is also likely to consider the setting up of two funds—the Financial Inclusion Fund and the Financial Inclusion Technology Fund—having a corpus of Rs 500 crore each, aimed at achieving financial inclusion amongst economically weaker sections of the society. The Rangarajan Committee had recommended the setting up of both these funds. Also on agenda: proposal to amend Anti-Hijacking ActAnother proposal that the Union Cabinet is likely to take up on Thursday is to amend the Anti-Hijacking Act of 1982 making it much more iron-fisted, providing for death penalty to hijackers and a 'no-negotiation' policy. The proposal was deferred by the Cabinet during its meeting last week.The proposed amendment to the 1982 Act comes as the Government appears serious to deal sternly with the hijackers, particularly after the 9/11 terrorist strikes and the 1999 Kandahar hijack. The new measures besides treating hijacking as “an act of aggression” and entailing “directions to all domestic airports to promptly immobilise a hijacked plane if it lands”, also proposes death sentence for the hijackers who use or seek to use the aircraft as a “missile”. The existing provision in Section 4 of the 1982 Act limits punishment for the offence of hijacking an airplane to life imprisonment and a fine.
