Team News Riveting
Raipur, May 29
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel today attended the eighth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister.
During this, apart from the agenda points related to the meeting, the Chief Minister kept his points on various schemes and subjects related to the state interest. Chief Ministers of all the states were present on this occasion.
Talking on the agenda of the meeting, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said on the role of Team India, developed India of 2047 that the states have an important role in maintaining the unity and integrity of the country intact. He said that the central government should respect the rights of the states and strengthen the system of transferring its share of resources as well.
Emphasizing on MSMEs, the Chief Minister said that the Rural and Cottage Industrial Policy 2023-24 has been announced with the aim of promoting entrepreneurship in rural and cottage areas in the state and to use the resources of the area at the local level.
He said that only 25-30 percent iron ore is being made available by NMDC to the units located in the state. He urged to make available adequate iron ore for the units of the state.
He said that the MSME industries of Chhattisgarh are not getting coal from SECL for the last 2-3 years as per the requirement of the state. The Chief Minister urged to take action on this subject to secure the interest of Chhattisgarh.
He told that in order to promote industrialization in the tribal region of Bastar, MoUs have been signed for capital investment of about 9 thousand crore rupees in the last four years. Out of this, 3 million tonnes of iron ore would be required annually for the steel industries. He requested that iron ore should be kept in reserve according to the production capacity of these steel plants and made available on priority basis. Along with this, 30 percent discount should also be given in the rate of iron ore by NMDC under special incentive.
Along with this, he suggested to implement MNREGA in cities with less than 20 thousand population. He also requested to appoint a nodal officer for early start and coordination of international air service from Raipur airport.
In the meeting, he demanded setting up of solar power plants in 10 aspirational districts of Chhattisgarh as well as setting up of solar power plants up to 5 MW as green activities, and demanded exemption from forest diversion under the Forest Conservation Act.
The Chief Minister said that there should be an integrated MIS system for all programs for the care of women and children. Along with this, he requested to increase the share of Centre-State funding to 75:25 under Centrally Sponsored Schemes.
Apart from this, he also raised the issue of refund of Rs 19,000 crore deposited in the New Pension Scheme in the meeting. At the same time, he also demanded compensation of GST compensation grant. The Chief Minister said that the states have suffered loss of revenue due to the GST tax system. A permanent arrangement should be made at the earliest to compensate the revenue loss of the producing states like Chhattisgarh. The state’s share in central taxes is getting less. The Chief Minister demanded that an amount of 2659 crores be made available to the state in this financial year.
The Chief Minister urged to transfer the amount of 4 thousand 170 crores of additional levy received from minerals to Chhattisgarh. On the other hand, in the civil suit petition submitted by the Government of Chhattisgarh in the Supreme Court in this matter, the Central Government requested to present the reply soon and resolve it. Along with this, the Chief Minister demanded revision of royalty rates of coal and other major minerals. He said that due to non-amendment, the financial interests of the state are being adversely affected.
The Chief Minister also urged the central government to bear the security expenditure of Rs 11 thousand 828 crore on the deployment of central forces and free the state from this arrears.
