Naidu sanctions Rs 1.2,000 cr development fund for UP

May 6, 2017

Lucknow, May 6: The Centre on Friday sanctioned Rs 1,263 crore for Uttar Pradesh in a bid to include the state in the all-India development agenda.

Naidu
Setting a new trend by visiting the state to review its requirements, Union urban development and I&B minister Venkaiah Naidu said that the sanctioned amount included the first instalment of funds to cities under Smart Cities scheme.

"Since the Modi government is determined to make the country developed, development of the state is essential," Naidu said, adding that unfortunately, the previous government didn't cooperate with the Centre as was required. "I am not making allegations as people of the state have already replied through their mandate," Naidu said. He though added that the Yogi government was moving in right direction. "Our priority is to remove UP from the list of Bimaru states," Naidu said, adding that while reviewing the schemes, efforts were also made to resolve the issues. The Union minister said that the funds released on Friday included Rs 119 crore for Lucknow, Rs 107 crore each for Agra, Kanpur and Varanasi as first instalment under the Smart City scheme, while Rs 2 crore each had been sanctioned for Meerut and Rae Bareli to prepare a proposal to become part of the scheme.

Naidu said that the amount would also fund the Amrut scheme named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "While the first and second instalments have already been released, the third instalment of Rs 300 crore was sanctioned today," Naidu said. He said that Ayodhya has also been added under the Amrut scheme, taking the total to 61 cities.Similarly, under the Urban Transport scheme, Rs 446 crore in total had been given for Lucknow Metro as part of Centre's equity.

"The CM has also given assurance that RERA, which has been passed by the Parliament, will be implemented and has also given a commit ment to appoint a Real Estate Regulatory Authority," Naidu said, adding that the issues highlighted by the CM pertaining to builders in Noida and Greater Noida would be sorted out after the regulatory authority is formed in UP.

Naidu said that it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wish to provide houses to all by 2022, but the state is lagging in construction of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna. "Despite writing 11 letters to state governments, only proposals for only 11,000 houses were received from UP, as compared to proposals for 1.9 lakh units from Andhra Pradesh and 2.3 lakh units from Tamil Nadu," he claimed.

"It is because of this that I have asked the chief minister to send more proposals for 2017-18," Naidu said, adding that proposals for at least five to six lakh units are expected for this fiscal from UP . Elaborating, Naidu said that besides the interest rebate of 6.5 per cent for the poor, the Centre would give an aid of Rs 2.3 lakh for construction of houses to women. Similarly , as per the Prime Minister's announcement of 'Sabka Sapna Ghar Ho Apna', a four per cent rebate would be given to middle class families earning between Rs 6 lakh to Rs 12 lakh. Similarly, a three per cent rebate in interest would be given (up to Rs 12 lakh) for those who are earning between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 18 lakh. Hitting out at the previ ous UPA government, Naidu said: "Picchhli sarkar mein ghosna hoti thi, poshna nahin hoti thi, Modi government mein ghosna ke saath saath poshna bhi hoti hai" (The previous government made announcements, but did not deliver, while the Modi government is delivering too).

He said that the Centre has also started credit rating system to rate cities, which would help in promoting investment. Under the Amrut scheme, ESL organisation would be roped in, Naidu said, adding that the organisation would help in replacing street lights with LED and pump sets which are power friendly . Chief minister Aditya Nath Yogi added that at some places the organisation has already been directed to begin the process.

Referring to the 73rd and 74th amendment of the Constitution, Naidu said that the funds meant for the projects from the Centre should go directly to local bodies, which has not been the case until now. He said that the CM has given an assurance that a decision would be taken in this regard after the issue is reviewed. "A decision has also been taken to regularise all the unauthorised water connections under Amrut scheme. The amount for regularisation has to be taken in instalment," Naidu said.

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News Network
March 16,2024

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New Delhi: The 2024 general election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases from April 19, Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar said today, announcing the largest democratic exercise in the world. Results will be announced on June 4.

The seven phases: 
April 19
April 26
May 7
May 13
May 20
May 25
June 1

Simultaneous election for Lok Sabha and assembly will be held in four states -- Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra.  

By-elections will also be held for 26 assembly seats across multiple states, including Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Mr Kumar, announcing the dates, sent out a strong message on fake news on social media, saying political parties should ensure responsible social media behaviour -- "verify before you amplify".

"Fake news will be dealt with severely as per existent laws.. Section 79 (3)(B) of the IT Act empowers nodal officers in each state to remove unlawful content," he said.

The other strong message was on violation of model code in terms of hate speeches. "There should be issue-based campaign, no hate speeches, no speeches along caste or religious lines, no criticism of anyone's personal lives," he said.

The media must clarify when they carry political adverts, those cannot masquerade as news, he said. Individual messages regarding this would be sent to the candidates, he added.

The commission has employed 2,100 advisors to keep an eye on these issues and strong action will be taken regarding this, he said.

Voters above the age of 85 years and persons with disabilities, with 40 per cent disability can vote from home, Mr Kumar said. Around 82 lakh voter are above the age of 85, he said.

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News Network
March 21,2024

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New Delhi: India has now become more unequal in terms of wealth concentration than the British colonial period as income and wealth of the top 1% of the country’s population have hit historical highs, according to a paper released by World Inequality Lab.

By 2022-23, the top 1 per cent income share in India was 22.6 per cent and the top 1 per cent wealth share rose to 40.1 per cent, with India’s top 1 per cent income share among the very highest in the world, higher than even South Africa, Brazil and the US.

Co-authored by economists Nitin Kumar Bharti, Lucas Chancel, Thomas Piketty, and Anmol Somanchi, the paper stated that the “Billionaire Raj” headed by “India’s modern bourgeoisie” is now more unequal than the British Raj headed by the colonialist forces. 

The paper said there is evidence to suggest the Indian tax system might be “regressive when viewed from the lens of net wealth”. A restructuring of the tax code is needed, the paper said, adding that a levy of a “super tax” of 2 per cent on the net wealth of 167 wealthiest families would yield 0.5 per cent of national income in revenues and create space for investments.

“A restructuring of the tax code to account for both income and wealth, and broad-based public investments in health, education and nutrition are needed to enable the average Indian, and not just the elites, to meaningfully benefit from the ongoing wave of globalisation. Besides serving as a tool to fight inequality, a “super tax” of 2% on the net wealth of the 167 wealthiest families in 2022-23 would yield 0.5% of national income in revenues and create valuable fiscal space to facilitate such investments,” the paper said. 

The paper has analysed data based on the annual tax tabulations published by the Indian income tax authorities to extract the distribution of top income earners between 1922-2020.

The share of national income going to the top 10 per cent fell from 37 per cent in 1951 to 30 per cent by 1982 after which it began steadily rising. From the early 1990s onwards, the top 10 per cent share increased substantially over the next three decades, nearly touching 60 per cent in the most recent years, the paper said. This compares with the bottom 50 per cent getting only 15 per cent of India’s national income in 2022-23.

 The top 1 per cent earn on average Rs 5.3 million, 23 times the average Indian (Rs 0.23 million). Average incomes for the bottom 50 per cent and the middle 40 per cent stood at Rs 71,000 (0.3 times national average) and Rs 1,65,000 (0.7 times national average), respectively.
The richest, nearly 10,000 individuals (of 92 million Indian adults) earn on average Rs 480 million (2,069 times the average Indian). “To get a sense of just how skewed the distribution is, one would have to be at nearly the 90th percentile to earn the average income in India,” the paper said.

In 2022, just the top 0.1 per cent in India earned nearly 10 per cent of the national income, while the top 0.01 per cent earned 4.3 per cent share of the national income and top 0.001 per cent earned 2.1 per cent of the national income.

Enlisting the probable reasons for sharp rise in top 1 per cent income shares, the paper said public and private sector wage growth could have played a part till the late 1990s, adding that there are good reasons to believe capital incomes likely played a role in subsequent years. For the shares of the bottom 50 per cent and middle 40 per cent remaining depressed, the paper said, the primary reason has been the lack of quality broad-based education, focused on the masses and not just the elites.

“One reason to be concerned with such high levels of inequality is that extreme concentration of incomes and wealth is likely to facilitate disproportionate influence on society and government. This is even more so in contexts with weak democratic institutions. After largely being a role model among post-colonial nations in this regard, the integrity of various key institutions in India appears to have been compromised in recent years. This makes the possibility of India’s slide towards plutocracy even more real. If only for this reason, income and wealth inequality in India must be closely tracked and challenged,” it said.

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News Network
March 21,2024

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New Delhi, Mar 21: Election Commission (EC) on Thursday directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of Narendra Modi-led government to put an end to bulk WhatsApp messages labelled 'Viksit Bharat Sampark.' It has also sought a compliance report immediately from the ministry.

EC had received several complaints that such messages are still being delivered on citizens’ phones despite the announcement of Lok Sabha elections and the model code of conduct (MCC) entering into force.

In response, the govt informed the commission that although the letters were sent out before MCC came into force, some of them could have possibly been delivered to recipients with a delay because of systemic and network limitations.

In the past few days, several WhatsApp users have received messages from 'Viksit Bharat Sampark' seeking feedback and suggestions from the public. 

The message comes with a PDF that has a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioning government schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Ayushman Bharat, Matru Vandana Yojana, etc, and seeking suggestions from the citizens over government initiatives and schemes.

The letter which addresses users as 'my dear family members' had sparked political controversy. Congress has called the PDF file attached with the message a ‘political propaganda’.

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