Haryana deputy chief minister (CM) Dushyant Chautala on Tuesday said the excise department has registered a 26% rise in revenue receipts from the auction of liquor vends in the current excise year.
Addressing a press conference, Chautala said last year 2,500 liquor vends were auctioned in 1,250 zones and a revenue of ₹5,047 crore as licence fee was received from them. This year, 100 liquor vends have been reduced and auction of some liquor vends is yet to be done, yet till date ₹6,362 crore revenue has been collected.
He said after the auctioning of all liquor vends, the revenue receipts from liquor are likely to be 27% more than last year.
Chautala, who also holds the portfolio of excise and taxation department, said in the first four months (April-July 2023) of this fiscal the state’s tax collection has surged to an impressive ₹23,108 crore, registering a growth of 20.8% percent compared to the corresponding period last year when it stood at ₹19,133 crore
Farmers to get compensation by Sept 7
Chautala said the state government will transfer the crop damage compensation to the farmers’ bank accounts by September 7 after assessing the damage to crops caused due to floods and incessant rains recently.
The deputy CM, who also holds the portfolio of revenue and disaster management, said waterlogging was reported in about 1,475 villages and 47 people have also lost their lives in the state. He said ₹1.60 crore has been given to the next of kin of the 40 deceased. Soon the assistance amount will be sent to the kin of the other seven deceased as well.
Chautala said that crops in around 4.08 lakh acres have been affected due to floods in the state. If a farmer has not yet uploaded the report of his crop damage on the e-Kshatipurti portal, then he must upload it up to August 18, he said, before informing that once the reports are received, assessment will be done and by September 7, the amount of compensation will be transferred to the bank account of the affected farmers.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that the state government has taken three new decisions in the interest of the farmers. First, ‘Khsatipurti sahayak’ are being appointed to meet the shortage of patwaris (so that the loss of crops can be assessed on time). Second, girdawar-assistants will be appointed as per the requirement to assist the girdawars to assess crop loss caused in heavy rainfall or non-flood areas.
He said the third important decision was that due to the heavy flow of water in the Yamuna river during floods, the areas of Yamuna Nagar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat and Palwal, Faridabad districts adjoining the Yamuna have been badly affected especially the fields around that area. Due to erosion of the land, the crops of the farmers are not only damaged, but also a large amount of silt has been accumulated in their fields.
In the interest of such affected farmers, the state government is preparing a new policy, under which the silt collected in the farmer’s field will be auctioned, in which one-third of the amount received from the auction up to ₹10 lakh will be given to farmer and two-third will be deposited in the government’s account.
He said 475 houses have been completely damaged in the state due to floods, out of which claims for 108 houses have been ensured to the affected. He informed that more than 1,324 roads have been damaged in the state, in which a total loss of ₹338 crore is estimated.
“We don’t have to seek financial help from the Centre as we have sufficient funds to deal with the losses caused by the recent floods in the state,” he said in response to a question.
The above news was originally posted on hindustantimes
