Shillong ( Meghalaya), July 20: The Cabinet which met today approved the procurement of land for tourism infrastructure at Nongdiengngan village (Nongmahir Lake), Ri Bhoi District. This is being done to increase the land bank with the State Govt. so that tourism projects can be undertaken and since the area around Nongmahir Lake has huge tourism potential, tourism projects can be taken up through the procurement.
The Cabinet also has approved the enhancement of rate of tax on Petrol and Diesel. The price of diesel between Meghalaya & Assam is quite high i.e ₹90.33 for Guwahati & ₹84.10 for Khanapara which is a difference of ₹6.23. Hence, considering the revenue of the state, we have decided to increase the rate by 50 paisa.
Also, to streamline the efficiency of collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) for Excise and Petrol and Diesel in Meghalaya, the Cabinet today decided to change the time frame within which the concerned business houses should pay the VAT collected to the Govt. Eg in petrol pumps we had a period of 3 months for collection of VAT reconciliation which will now be reduced to 30 days (1 month).
The meeting also approved the Meghalaya Taxi Aggregator Operation Rules which will put in place a basic license fee for aggregators (individuals/companies) who would like to take up the service. For bike taxis, a license fee of ₹700 per vehicle per year will be charged and permit fee of ₹200 if they were to operate from a specific location i.e the city/district/region and if they were to operate in the entire state, the permit fee will be ₹1300 as license fee and permit fee of ₹200.
Cabinet also finalised the rates in which passengers can be charged for two-wheeler or bike taxis. The proposed fare is ₹10 for the 1st kilometre & ₹5 for subsequent kilometres and a holding charge of ₹4 for every 5 minutes for the bike taxi. These rules also come with basic criteria that must be followed like availability of gps, proper registration, identification of driver and to ensure safety of passengers.
The Cabinet has decided to repeal the Rajitlal University Act 2011. The Act was passed in the Assembly in 2011 but for multiple reasons, the assent of the Governor was not given. In February, 2020 the assent of the Governor came through but no significant steps were taken by the University. The Private University Commission that regulates such private institutions have also written to the said University to follow up but no satisfactory reply has come from their end.
Therefore, following due process, the proposal was brought to the Cabinet today to pass an ordinance to repeal the Rajitlal University Act 2011.
