The Indian Express         15.10.2013

CCTV project for PMC and PCMC cleared by home dept, says Pawar

A month after the state government cleared CCTV project for Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, the home department, whose final approval is important as the project is related to security, has also given a green signal to implement the proposed project. This was announced by Deputy Chief minister Ajit Pawar on the sidelines of the District Planning and Development Council (DPDC) meeting in the city on Monday.

"The home department had to give its final nod, which was done today,'' said Pawar.

Under the project, which is pegged at Rs 225 crore and involves installation of 1,400 CCTVs, the monitoring has to be done by the Pune Police Commissionerate with control rooms to be set at both corporations. "The project was delayed owing to hiccups in the tender process, which has been sorted now. With the home department giving it nod, the project will be implemented soon,'' said Pawar.

When asked about the Rs 2 crore traffic plan, he said the traffic police needs to utilise funds that were cleared in July. The traffic police had recently purchased 1,200 barricades which were distributed among 33 traffic divisions in the city.

Talking about the state cabinet's nod to Pune Metro, the Deputy Chief Minister said the High Power Committee appointed by the government will take decisions on new proposals pertaining to the Metro.

The committee comprises chief secretary, additional chief secretary, principal secretaries of the urban development department and finance and planning department, and the municipal commissioners of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

"The project will not face any delay as the approvals can be given by the committee without having to take the long route of cabinet nods,'' he said.

With the fleet of 500 buses approved under JNNURM funds, Pawar assured the pending demand of as many as 1,679 buses will also be met soon.

Pawar said Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was looking into the allegations of social activist Anna Hazare and Medha Patkar who have demanded a judicial inquiry into the sale of state sugar factories which led to bankruptcy. "As citizens they have the right to make such allegations. The Chief Minister will take a final call on it,'' he said.

The activists had alleged the sugar factories were first made sick by politicians and then sold to private firms owned by them.

On illegal constructions, he said, "We have to see whether an appeal can be made to the advocate general on the matter."

The Times of India                08.10.2013

Civic bodies eye e-payment route for local body tax

KOLHAPUR: The civic bodies of Kolhapur, Sangli and Solapur are in talks with some public sector banks for providing an online gateway facility to the traders for the payment of local body tax (LBT). The move is aimed at saving the time of the traders of visiting the banks personally, wait in queues and seek receipts of the payment.

LBT came into effect in the jurisdiction of Kolhapur and Solapur municipal corporations more than a year ago, while the new tax system was introduced by the Sangli Miraj Kupwad municipal corporation (SMKMC) in May this year.

After opposing the new tax system initially, traders have now started making payment of LBT with their respective civic bodies.

Omprakash Divatay, deputy commissioner of SMKMC, said, "The corporation is in talks with a couple of public sector banks for starting online payment gateway facility. The corporation and the interested banks have held some meetings over the issue and decided to start the facility at the earliest. The system is aimed at simplifying tax payment facilities for the traders as well for corporation officials. The tax will be deposited directly in the account of the civic body."

The SMKMC has already received Rs 11.5 crore in the form of LBT from May this year.

Ram Katkar, LBT officer in the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation, said, "The corporation has held a couple of rounds of meetings and reviewed the presentations made by the interested banks. The banks have also offered to set up special counters at their branches as an additional facility. After the payment is made, an automated receipt will be generated, which will be given to the trader and the corporation. This will save a lot of time of the corporation and the bank."

"At present, a private company is operating the computerized system of the corporation for acceptance of various taxes. The existing system at ward offices will continue, but the online facility will make things simpler," he added. There are close to 10,000 traders who pay value added tax to the state sales tax department. As many as 7,000 pay LBT regularly, while some are still out of the LBT purview as per exemptions mentioned in the rules. The total collection of LBT in the KMC is Rs 36 crore.

P V Thadsare, LBT officer in the Solapur Municipal Corporation, said, "We are in talks with a public sector bank and within a week, we are going to finalize the deal. This will increase the collection of the corporation. There are some 8,000 traders registered with the civic body, who have paid Rs 37 crore so far."

Lalit Gandhi, chairman of Rajarampuri Merchats' Association, said, "Such a facility will definitely help us. At present, the traders have to go the bank, stand in queues and make payments. The system is not very friendly as it consumes a lot of time, which the traders can utilize in a better way."