GUJARAT

Figures from the Union Home ministry on custodial violence shows a sorry state of Gujarat, which stood second in the entire country in terms of deaths in Police custody this year.
Gujarat with 21 deaths in police custody is next only to Maharashtra, which reported 26 such deaths till November 15 this year.

According to figures from the Union home ministry, the country reported 151 deaths in police custody and Gujarat accounted for nearly 14%.

Bihar. which reported 18 deaths in police custody, and Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh with 11 deaths each, are better off than Gujarat.

Crime in India in 2020, a report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), also revealed that the number of custodial deaths in Gujarat was the highest in 2020. Fifteen persons, who were in police custody without remand, died in various districts of the state in 2020.

Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had created the ministry of cooperation with the motto of prosperity with cooperation, union Home and cooperatives minister Amit Shah said that the cooperative sector will play a major role in India becoming a US $ 5 trillion economy.

Shah said that a lot of changes are required in the cooperative sector and said, A charter for the newly formed ministry is being prepared with the core idea of sahakaar se samruddhi (cooperation to wealth).

Shah launched an automated cheese warehouse at Khatraj, Amuls organic biofertilizer, souvenir, stamp and envelope marking 75 years of Amul and inaugurated newly constructed auditorium. He also launched the Sahakar scheme of the National Cooperative Development Corporation with Rs 5,000 crore allocation.

TheGujarat governmenthas decided to provide financial assistance to 156 municipalities for cleaning works post heavy rainfall and flood situations in the state.

For this purpose, the government has given in-principle approval to allot Rs 17.10 crore to 156 municipalities of the state.

This grant will be used to provide facilities in all 156 municipalities of the state on an immediate basis at the primary stage.

As small businesses failed to recover post pandemic, their loan repayment capacities weakened, pushing bad loan burden underPradhan MantriMundra Yojana (PMMY) up.

While fresh disbursal of loans under Pradhan MantriMudra Yojana(PMMY) increased merely by 10% from Rs 1,920.29 crore in the April to June quarter of 2020-21 to Rs 2,089.22 crore in the corresponding quarter this year, NPAs swelled from Rs 555.54 crore to Rs 856.52 crore up 54.17%, during the same period.

According to experts, micro enterprises which typically avail Mudra Yojana were the worst affected due to the pandemic-inducedlockdown.

Significantly, compared to the corresponding period last year (2020), the revenue fromstamp dutyand property registration has spiked 148% in the period from April to July this year, reflecting a huge spurt in real estate transactions since April this year.

In the month of July, 2020 which was just after the lockdown, the income from stamp duty & registration fees was Rs 588 crore. In July this year, the income from stamp duty and registration touched the Rs 968 crore mark. Considering the April to July period, the revenue from stamp duty and registration in 2020 was Rs 1,234 crore. This year, the income from stamp duty and registration between April and July stands at Rs 3,061 crore.
Such impressive has been the stamp duty and registration revenue that the has earned 34% of its annual budgetary target of Rs 8,700 crore in the first four months of the financial year.

According to official figures of the state government, the number of property documents registered in the first four months of 2020-21 were 1.94 lakh, which increased to 4.07 lakh in the first four months of 2021-22, reflecting a whopping 110 % jump in total number of registered sale deeds in the state.

However, the states major Source Of Income – Goods & Service Tax (GST) income has grown by only 6% in the first four months of the ongoing fiscal year as compared to the same period last year. Revenue from stamp duty and registration grew by 148% in the first four months of the present fiscal year as compared to the same period last year. Motor vehicles tax has registered a Growth of 110% in the first four months of the financial year as compared to the corresponding period last year.

VAT (value added tax) on petroleum products showed a 81% jump in revenue in the first four months of the ongoing financial year as compared to the corresponding period last year. Government revenue from sale of liquor (Prohibition & excise tax) has registered a 61% hike in the April-July period this year as compared to the same period last year.

Although the overall income of the government from all sources showed a marginal drop in the year 2020-21 (Rs 79,793 crore) as compared to the previous financial year 2019-20 (Rs 86,534 crore), the government is upbeat that it will be able to cross the Rs 1,08,035 crore revenue target this year.

In an important decision aimed at redressing the water crisis inGujarat, chief minister Bhupendra Patel has approved several projects to provide water to 135 villages ofBanaskanthaandPatanfor drinking andirrigation.

The CM approved Rs 1,566.25 crore for laying 78-km long Kasara-Dantiwada life-Irrigation pipeline under theSujalam Sufalam Yojnaand 33-km long Rs 191.71 crore for theDindrol-Mukteshwar pipeline.

The lift-irrigation-based pipelines are ready, and the eastern parts of Banaskantha, which were bereft of Narmada water, will get reliable sources of water.

The Sujalam-Sufalam Yojna was launched in 2004 to ensure that Narmada waters reach maximum areas. Under this scheme, 12 out of the total 14 pipelines drawing water from Narmada Main Canal have already been completed to supply water to North Gujarat districts.

TheGujaratgovernment recently announced plans to invite global bids to develop a non-major port atNargolwith an initial of Rs 3,800 crore. Less than 50km away at Vadhavan in Maharashtra, the central government is working on a plan to develop a major port for an estimated investment of Rs 65,000 crore.

Nargol is likely to encounter tough competition from Vadhavan in drawing traffic. Moreover, the plans to develop new Ports and to boost port-led development activities could face challenges if theDraft Ports Bill2021 of the Union ministry of ports, shipping and waterways is implemented in its present form.

The draft bill aims to modify the current management model of non-major ports or ports that are run by state maritime regulators. The major ports are run by the central government.

The majority of the 27 functions defined for MSDC override the independence of state maritime boards.

Gujarat Maritime Board regulated ports handled 338 million metric tonnes (MMT) of cargo for the year 2020-21 as compared to the total national cargo of 1,247MMT. The state houses the countrys largest commercial port, the largest captive jetty, and is the only state to have three LNG terminals.