Assembly in session: Milk cess on liquor likely to touch Rs 100 crore in Himachal this fiscal
Shimla, February 19
The government has earned revenue of Rs 90.77 crore in the last one year from the milk cess of Rs 10 per bottle on sale of every liquor bottle in the state. Replying to a query by Shahpur MLA Kewal Singh Pathania and Naina Devi MLA Randhir Sharma, Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said the revenue from milk cess was expected to touch Rs 100 crore in this financial year.
He further said Rs 2188.70 crore had been received till January 31, 2024, against a target of Rs 2350.81 crore from the excise sector. Also, an earning of Rs 8533.17 crore had been made by the Excise and Taxation Department till January 31.
Replying to a query by Sujanpur MLA Rajinder Rana and Bharmour MLA Janak Raj, Chauhan said information regarding providing jobs on compassionate grounds was being collected. “Getting information from so many departments, boards and corporations is an exhaustive task and we will try to ensure that the information is furnished within this Budget session,” the minister said in response to a supplementary question by Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur.
Replying to a query by Una legislator Satpal Singh Satti, Ayush Minister Yadvinder Goma said as per the Government of India guidelines, it is mandatory that those who study at government ayurvedic colleges be given Rs 10,000 monthly stipend. “It is for the private colleges to give the stipend or not,” he said. He said there were 75 posts of BAMS and 56 seats of postgraduation at the Paprola Ayurvedic College.
Replying to a supplementary by Sullah MLA Vipin Parmar, Goma said all formalities for declaring Paprola college, a centre of national repute, have been fulfilled but a response from the Centre was awaited. “We will shortly place the issue of appointment of ayurveda doctors all over Himachal before the Cabinet and not in select districts,” he assured.
Replying to a query by Ani MLA Lokinder Kumar regarding benefits being denied to affected families by the 110 MW Luhri hydel project, the Industries Minister assured that grievances of project-affected families in the state, where hydel projects were being set up, would be resolved by holding talks with the management of the power company and the Deputy Commissioners.
“This problem is not just confined to Ani area but the entire state where hydel projects are coming up,” he said. The MLA had pointed out that benefits were not being given to the project-affected families despite muck being dumped illegally in the project-affected panchayats. The minister said Rs 3.32 crore had been spent by the project authorities in the seven panchayats.
Replying to a query by the Sujanpur MLA, Education Minister Rohit Thakur said PG classes at Sujanpur Tihra college would be started soon after completing the formalities from this academic session only.
