Representatives of around 20 civil society organizations and NGOs met the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley as part of pre-budget consultation on social sector on 12 January, 2016. Immediately after the pre-budget consultation, a press conference was held by some of these organizations to convey the media persons what demands/ suggestions were made. Subrat Das, Executive Director of Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA, http://www.cbgaindia.org/) informed us that during...
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Cess proceeds in a black hole
-The Hindu The National Democratic Alliance government has just introduced a cess of 0.5 per cent on all taxable services for the Swachh Bharat campaign. In February 2016, it will introduce a 2 per cent cess on airfares for all domestic flyers except those flying to remote locations, and international travellers. This cess is meant to fund losses that airlines may incur in connecting to hinterland locations. The Central government loves...
More »Rs. 1.4 lakh crore cess money lies idle -TCA Sharad Raghavan
-The Hindu The funds collected can be used only for the designated purpose and cannot be diverted More than Rs. 1.4 lakh crore of funds collected by the government under various cesses for purposes as varied as higher education, road development and the welfare of construction workers are lying unutilised, shows an analysis by The Hindu of a Comptroller and Auditor-General report on government finances and answers by Ministers in the Lok...
More »Draft Paris pact stresses ‘voluntary contributions’ -G Ananthakrishnan
-The Hindu India says it is ready for a regime of stocktaking of future carbon emissions. In a clear signal that active diplomacy is at work to forge an agreement in Paris based on voluntary pledges, one that is subject to transparent monitoring, India said on Friday that it was ready for a regime of stocktaking of future carbon emissions. The U.S., on its part, said it had “nothing but respect” for...
More »Pulse of the matter: Manufacturing a dal crisis, short-changing both farmer and consumer -Yogesh Pawar
-DNA Wondering about the plight of the rural population facing successive droughts which has to buy pulses, South Asia Network for Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) laments how no benefit of the price hike is reaching actual pulse farmers. While most link the current tur (pigeon pea) dal crisis with raging market prices, storage issues, hoarding and economics, a new study highlighting the making of the crisis - by South Asia Network...
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