BHUBANESWAR: Odisha recorded state GST (SGST) collection of Rs 954.62 crore in March 2021, which is the highest ever collection in a month since implementation of GST from July 1st, 2017. The previous highest state GST collection in a single month was Rs 927.60 crore recorded during April 2019
With highest ever SGST collection in March, the state government has recorded 21.55% growth compared to corresponding period of previous fiscal as total SGST collection in March, 2020 was estimated at Rs 785.35 crore, said an official source in the state finance department.
“The record collection of SGST during March is despite below par performance in some of the sectors due to adverse impact of Covid-19. Moreover, during the first quarter of 2020-21, there was decline of Rs. 761.19 crore in SGST collection compared to first quarter of 2019-20 financial year,” said a senior official.
Beggars at Ram Mandir in Bhubaneswar
BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to introduce a beggar rehabilitation programme to ensure that no one has to sit with a begging bowl by the side of roads here.
As part of the programme, street-side beggars and those begging around temples will be brought to rehabilitation homes. Even those who arrive in the city from other towns and end up begging on the streets will be taken to the shelter home.
Three shelters will come up in the three zones of the BMC. The inmates will be provided with cooked food and basic amenities and be imparted vocational training so that they can be self-reliant. In case the inmates want to reunite with their families, the BMC will allow them to do so after they become self-reliant, said the BMC deputy’s commissioner (welfare), Kamalakanta Behera.
The Confederation of Citizens Association has been protesting against collection of holding tax since 2011
BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa high court’s interim order asking the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to be lenient on people unable to pay holding tax in view of pandemic situation prompted the government to suspend tax collection at revised rates apart from protests.
The HC had said in its September 4, 2020, order, “The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation can collect the holding tax @50 % of the assessment involved but without prejudice to the rights and contentions of both the parties and subject to the final outcome of the writ petition. Further considering the continuation of pandemic situation due to Covid-19, it is also directed that in the event any consumer approaching the BMC, indicating his difficulty to pay the tax at one go and seeking instalments, the BMC shall do well in granting relief to the person.”
p Speaker tries to pacify members in assembly br /p
BHUBANESWAR: Normalcy failed to return to the assembly even as speaker Surya Narayan Patro chaired two all-party meetings to end the deadlock that has been continuing for the last four days.
Members of the treasury and opposition benches continued to protest as soon as the House assembled at 10:30 am, forcing the speaker to adjourn it till 11:30 and later till noon and then till 4 pm.
While members of the treasury bench protested in the well of the House, demanding an apology from BJP MLA Subash Chandra Panigrahi for attempting suicide inside the assembly, the opposition BJP and Congress raised issues related to paddy procurement. As chaos continued, no business was conducted yet again. Though Patro convened an all-party meeting in the pre-lunch session, it remained inconclusive as Congress followed by BJP staged a walkout alleging that the speaker had started discussion on the treasury bench’s demand for an apology from P
Badal Paida, YOUNGEST IN EASTERN INDIA
KEONJHAR: Badal Paida, an impoverished 13-year-old child belonging to Kundapitha village under Ghatagaon block of Keonjhar district, became the youngest in eastern India to undergo a successful heart transplant surgery.
The news of Paida’s operation was tweeted by the state health department on Tuesday. The boy was successfully operated upon at Narayana Superspecialty Hospital in Howrah, West Bengal. For faster access to quality healthcare for children detected with heart ailments, the state government has signed an MoU with Narayan hospital. As per agreement, children suffering from congenital heart diseases and rheumatic heart diseases get free surgery at the hospital.