Dehradun: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday reviewed in depth the revenue receipts and increase in income resources of this financial year in the Secretariat with the Finance Minister and senior officials of the government.
Expressing satisfaction over the state's revenue collection of Rs 16436 crore against the total target of Rs 24745 crore, which is 66 per cent of the target, the Chief Minister gave instructions to the concerned officers to complete the remaining target of 34 per cent revenue by February.
He said that "more efforts should be made to increase the sources of income in this area, along with effective control over illegal mining." And asked to explore the possibilities of mining in new areas. Along with developing an integrated system for the Transport Department, Traffic Police, Forestry, and Mining, instructions were given to the State Tax Department to further strengthen the intelligence system.
He also talked about making an action plan regarding determining the bed level of rivers.
The Chief Minister said that "the online system should be further improved to keep a close watch on areas like transport, mining, GST, etc. More efforts should be made to increase revenue under GST. Effective measures should be taken to stop tax evasion."
He also stressed paying special attention to the use of innovation and information technology to increase income resources. The Chief Minister also talked about ensuring the participation of local people in departmental action plans.
The Chief Minister said that "all departments should work with full alertness and activeness to increase revenue. Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) and Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (UJVNL) need special efforts to increase their revenue in the energy sector. Vigilance-based activities should be carried out continuously in areas prone to electricity theft."
The Chief Minister said that "due to the 71 per cent forest area in the state, there is immense potential for revenue generation. More efforts should be made towards increasing revenue through better utilisation of forest resources. Work should be done expeditiously towards commercial plantations in the Terai areas. Proper arrangements should be made for the sale of firewood. Work should be done keeping in mind the long-term plan for the conservation and sustainable development of herbs."
The Chief Minister asked GMVN, KMVN and Forest Corporation to improve their working systems and pay attention to the basic nature of the action plans of the corporations. He directed that the working capacity of the corporations should also be assessed.
The Chief Minister said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described this decade of the 21st century as the decade of Uttarakhand. The action plan of all the departments will have a big contribution in its success, hence, all the departments should move forward in this direction with mutual coordination and efficiency. Efforts were made to increase the resources of departmental income. The functioning of the departments will also become the basis for the development of the state." The Chief Minister also asked to speed up the efforts to prepare the budget for the next financial year. —ANI
