State Govt withdraws COVID cess

September 24, 2020 91 Views No Comment

Correspondent/Staff Reporter

Kohima/DIMAPUR, SEP 23 (NPN): In a major development and a big relief to public and in response to increasing demands from various organisations including student bodies, the government of Nagaland has decided to revoke COVID-19 cess on petroleum products.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting held at Rhododendron Hall, Police Complex, Chumoukedima, Dimapur Wednesday.

Minister of Planning & Coordination, Land Revenue, Parliamentary Affairs, Neiba Kronu, informed that official notification for the rollback would be published on Thursday and was likely to come into effect from September 25, 2020.

A communiqué issued by the finance department stated that the cabinet while deciding on revocation of COVID cess maintained that it was important to enlighten the general public about financial issues confronting the state which could have impact on the activities of the government.

The state government reminded that due to lockdown, the country’s economic growth shrunk by -23.9% during April-June 2020 which impacted the revenues of the Centre.

The government claimed that the negative impact of the pandemic had been so widespread and pervasive that it was compelled to adopt drastic measures to mitigate the negative effects of the fall in receipts to avoid a potential collapse, which included pro rata cuts in the budgets of departments, imposition of various austerity measures and mobilisation of additional resources through imposition of COVID cess on fuel.

The government also shared details of funds received from the Centre, amounts spent by the State from its own resources to fight the pandemic and the amount collected as COVID-19 cess:-

Appealing to all citizens to refrain from making sweeping statements based on hearsay without ascertaining facts, the government said they should ascertain correct facts about the total receipts from the Centre before raising the issue in public domain.

Observing that the fight against the pandemic was far from over, the government requested all citizens to refrain from activities that could restrict its ability to respond effectively to the pandemic in the days to come. Reacting to media reports that claimed that sanction of funds by the Centre as revenue deficit grant and State’s share of Union taxes were meant for combating COVID-19, the government said this perception could have been caused by national media reports that the Centre had released funds in order to enhance financial resources of State to fight the pandemic.

Clarifying that the receipts were revenue deficit grant and State’s share of Central taxes and duties, the government pointed out that these are meant to meet various types of recurring expenditures like salaries, pensions, debt servicing, etc. Claiming that there was no mention in any of the sanction letters of the Central government that the funds were meant to be spent on COVID-19, the government said these receipts were receivable even in the absence of the pandemic, and therefore the contention of getting extra funds did not arise.

JLF meets NNPGs
Meanwhile, Kronu informed that the Joint Legislature Forum (JLF) on Naga political issue also held a closed door meeting with the Working Committee of Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) at Police Complex, where both sides shared and updated each other on the progress of the Naga talks with the Government of India. One of the cabinet ministers said that the meeting was held to understand one another’s position and did not adopt any resolution.

Source: http://www.nagalandpost.com/state-govt-withdraws-covid-cess/222264.html