With loss of revenue to the tune of crores staring the State in the face thanks to the highway liquor ban ruling of the Supreme Court, Trivendra Singh Rawat Government has decided to declare 64 State Highways passing through the areas under the jurisdiction of municipality, municipal corporation and local bodies as other district roads (ODR) in course of a Cabinet meeting held on Friday.
However, with most of roads stretching through Uttarakhand being either national highways or state highway, it is doubtful how the decision of the cabinet would help the state to keep the flow of excise revenue being impacted by the apex court ruling. Things are particularly grim with excise being a major source of revenue for the state, now grappling with the acute cash crunch crisis. It is learnt that around Rs 2000 crore per annum sees its way into the state exchequer through the excise revenue.
With liquor vends located on the outer edges of the national and state highways being closed and relocated, the state government fell back on the strategy adopted by several state governments while converting the state highways into other district roads. However, the state government can hardly expand the areas falling under the ambit of the decision as the areas through which the state highways pass are generally densely populated on both their sides. A government official said that as per the state highway norms, the administration can go for expansion only in consideration of the traffic requirement. As per the cabinet decision, 63 out of 92 roads passing through the local/civic bodies would be de-notified and be declared as ODRs. It would prove difficult for the state government to increase the number of the de-notified roads from those left out, said the official, adding that the sewer lines, electric poles, telephone lines, transformers and the like spreading across these roads would make the expansion all the more difficult.
Besides, the cabinet has made amendment in VAT on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in a bid to give some relief to the aviation companies which are engaged in expansion under the regional connectivity schemes. However, other aviation or charter services would have to pay 20 percent VAT on ATF from now onwards. Notably, the Union civil aviation ministry had announced some incentives to boost regional connectivity to enable such companies to expand the areas of their operation. They had also asked the state governments to charge only one percent VAT on ATF. Acting on it, the state government had reduced the VAT on ATF from January 25, 2017.
To provide some relief to the farmers, the cabinet decided to exempt them from paying stamp duty if they have their agricultural lands mortgaged for agricultural purpose for the next five years. Its limit would be up to Rs five lakh, the cabinet decided. The announcement was an imperative in view of the period of such exemption having expired on March 31, 2017.
In another decision, the cabinet has increased the cut- off date for the merger of employees working in Rajbhawan. Notably, following the creation of the state, the employees of several departments being sent on deputation to Rajbhawan, the state government had fixed the cut- off date at September 30, 2010. If the employees were deputed till September 30, 2010 they were liable to be merged in Rajbhawan against the posts falling vacant. Now, the cut-off period has been extended till February 1, 2012.
Cabinet has amended the Uttarakhand State legal Service Authority Rules. Earlier, the SC/ST commission chairman was considered as ex-officio member of the authority. later, as the government formed separate SC commission and ST commission, the chairmen of both the commissions would be made the ex-officio members of the legal authority as per the cabinet decision. Besides, the cabinet decided that the state government would not pay any fee to the panel advocates who have been drawing fee from the national legal service authority that is functioning under NlSA. Besides, the cabinet declared the first session of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha, adjourned sine die by the Speaker on March 29, officially concluded.