Shillong, May 26: The Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) has requested the state government to release Rs 10 crore per month to the council for the timely disbursement of salary to its members and employees.
This was one of the issues raised by the council in its presentation during a recent meeting held with the Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar and legislators from Jaintia Hills region.
“The salaries of the members and the employees of this Council could not be paid regularly due to untimely and irregular release of share of royalty on major and minor minerals,” JHADC Chief Executive Member (CEM) Thombor Shiwat said in the presentation.
“In this regard, the State Government is requested to release an amount of Rs 10 Crore per month to the Council for timely disbursement of salary to the Members and the employees. This amount may be adjusted from the due share of royalties and taxes on motor vehicles on quarterly basis,” he added.
The JHADC has also urged the government to review the share of royalty on major and minor minerals and ensure that the earlier procedure regarding payment of royalty in respect of the minerals extracted from Jaintia Hills is re-instated.
The share of royalty on major and minerals constituted the major receipts of this District Council which sustain the administration of the Council. Major and minor minerals are extracted from the area within this Autonomous District on the strength of challan given by the State Government.
It may be mentioned that in the previous years the challans in respect of minerals extracted from the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District were paid in the Office of the Directorate of Mineral Resources at Jowai and the details of such challans were being furnished to the Council by the Treasury Office, Jowai enabling this Council to be acquainted with the same.
“However, in the recent years, purportedly on the basis of notification/order issued by the State Government, such challan on minerals extracted from the jurisdiction of the Council are being obtained and paid in the Office of the Directorate of Mineral Resources at Shillong and that the Council is not provided with the details of the same. This practice has put the Council in the dark on the quantum of minerals extracted from its areas and the due shares of royalty entitled to be received from the State Government,” Shiwat stated.
He said that the royalty on minerals is being shared between the State Government and the District Council after deduction of the cost of collection adding, in this regard, the Council suggested that such shares of royalty on minerals be made from the Gross amount of collection.
He also informed that the amount of royalty collected by the State Government against Incidental Challans issued by the Mining and Geology Department, Government of Meghalaya is not shared with the Council. Shiwat suggested that the royalty on Incidental Challans in respect of minerals extracted incidentally from the areas of the Council is to be shared in the same manner as royalty collected on other challans.
Also requesting the government to enhance the rate of royalty, the CEM said, “For increasing the revenue collection, the rate of royalty on both major and minor minerals which remains the same for the last many years need to be revised. The State Government is requested to work out the possibility of revising and enhancing the rate of royalty.”
