SHILLONG, April 5: Cabinet Minister Kyrmen Shylla on Wednesday said that the state government can explore the possibility of collecting taxes by legalising fishing competitions in the state.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Shylla said that the Deputy Commissioner can examine if the government can generate revenue from fishing competitions that are organised across the state.
“I don’t think that the individuals and groups who are organising these fishing competitions will have a problem to contribute to state exchequer in the form of taxes if it has to be legalised,” the Cabinet minister said.
The minister, however, said that he considers fishing as a hobby while asserting that it cannot be considered as gambling.
“Personally I would not call fishing as gambling. Yes, there is a huge prize money in fishing competition,” Shylla said.
It may be mentioned that the state government is presently generating revenue from teer.
With regard to the increase in revenue generation, Shylla, who is also in charge of Excise department, said that they are trying to find out if there are any leakages in revenue collection from the sale of IMFL in the state.
He further said that one of the important norms for setting up a wine store is to avail an NOC from the Rangbah Shnong.
“The NOC from the Rangbah Shnong is mandatory for setting up of the wine store,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, Shylla, who is also the Home (Passport) in-charge, told media persons that the government has no plans to open any passport seva kendras in Garo Hills. “We will definitely look into the matter if there is any proposal. We can even take up this issue to the Ministry concern for setting up of passport seva kendras in Garo Hills,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shylla, who has also been handed the charge of Revenue and Disaster Management portfolio, said that the department is likely to come up with an action plan to mitigate natural calamities.
“We are likely to discuss the proposed action plan during the review meeting where Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma is likely to be present,” he said.
Stating that the state has been experiencing disasters like flood, landslides and so on every year, he said that it is important to have an action plan which will give some insight to the department on how to deal with natural calamities.
Shylla also stated that the department is planning to speed up the process of providing relief by issuing a notification to the deputy commissioners of various districts to immediately release the financial assistance to the affected persons and then complete the other formalities.
