Cabinet Meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai today at Mantralaya

In the Cabinet Meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai today at Mantralaya  following important decisions were taken:

1. Cabinet has approved the draft of ‘Chhattisgarh Appropriation Bill, 2024’, for presenting the first supplementary estimate for the year 2024-2025 in the Legislative Assembly.

Another Major Decision of Shri Sai’s Government in the Interest of Farmers

2. To provide fair value to the farmers for their produce, Cabinet has decided to amend ‘Chhattisgarh Agricultural Produce Market Act’. Cabinet has approved the draft of the Chhattisgarh Agricultural Produce Market (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

With the amendment of ‘Chhattisgarh Agricultural Produce Market Act’, traders and processors registered or licensed by other state market boards or committees will be able to buy and sell notified agricultural produce through the e-NAM portal (National Agricultural Market) without registration. The e-NAM portal (National Agricultural Market) is operated by Government of India. This decision will enable farmers and sellers in Chhattisgarh to receive the maximum price for their produce.

According to the amendment proposal, the term “market fee and farmer welfare fee” will replace the existing “market fee.” Additionally, the market board will deposit 10 percent of its gross annual income into ‘Chhattisgarh State Farmer Welfare Fund’ for farmer welfare activities. This fund will be utilized for purposes included in the rules.

3. Cabinet has made significant decisions regarding the allocation, management and granting of ownership rights for government land in urban areas of Chhattisgarh. The previously issued directives and circulars related to these matters have been annulled.

This includes the circular issued by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department on 11 September 2019 regarding the management of encroached land, allocation of government land, and the process of determining and recovering annual land rent in urban areas; the circular issued on 26 October 2019 regarding granting land ownership rights for permanent leases in urban areas; the circular issued on 20 May 2020 regarding converting permanent leasehold lands into ownership rights in Nazul areas; and the circular issued on 24 February 2024 regarding the allocation of government land, management of encroached land, and granting ownership rights in urban areas.

In the Cabinet Meeting held today, decision to display the information regarding land allocated under these directives on the website of Revenue Department was also taken. Any objections or complaints received on this subject will be heard by the Divisional Commissioner.

4. Cabinet has approved the draft of ‘Chhattisgarh Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2024’. This follows the GST Council’s decision to rationalize provisions related to the Input Service Distributor and to register machines used in the manufacturing of items such as pan masala and gutkha. Consequently, the Central Goods and Services Tax Amendment Act 2024 was notified on 15 February 2024. Accordingly, similar amendments to the Chhattisgarh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, have been proposed.

5. Cabinet has authorized the General Administration Department to take necessary actions to place the 22nd Annual Report of the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (for the period from 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2023) before the Legislative Assembly.