Excise Policy 2020-21 approved
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 17: The Administrative Council (AC), which met here under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor, G C Murmu today approved the roll out of Excise Policy for the year 2020-21 and implementation of policy measures to improve transparency and objectivity related to renewal, cancellation, transfer of licenses and penalties.
The new policy aims to rationalize the number of taxes, duties and other levies to optimize revenues for common good, and bring about greater social consciousness about the harmful effects of consumption of liquor and alcoholic beverages.
The policy envisaged checking bootlegging of Bottled in Origin (BiO) brands from neighbouring States, besides providing choice of brands and a level playing field to those in the business.
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Under this year’s policy, the Department has specified fixed number of licenses/ licensed zones for ex-servicemen, specially-abled persons, SC/ST/OBC and people belonging to economically weaker sections as per the criteria to be notified separately.
Further, the License Fee structure has also been revisited in the Draft Policy. A fixed component of ‘Annual License Fee’ has also been introduced, whereas, the existing per bottle license fee has been revised on higher side as ‘Additional License Fee’.
The Excise Policy for the year 2019-20 was extended till June, 2020 in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic and now stands expired.
Meanwhile, the Administr-ative Council also accorded sanction to the proposal of Housing & Urban Development Department for adoption and notification of J&K Housing, Affordable Housing, Slum Redevelopment and Rehabilit-ation and Township Policy, 2020.
The policy envisaged seven models of housing, ranging from in-situ slum redevelopment to integrated township, to cater to the need of every section of society.
The new policy aims at promoting public-private-partnerships for affordable housing and slum rehabilitation projects and provides platform for operation and maintenance of integrated/ special townships in a cooperative manner. It further proposes minimum relocation of existing slum dwellers so as to maintain sanctity of existing economic and social linkages developed over a period of time in these informal settlements.
Additionally, the policy also includes provisions for fast track approvals of housing in Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Low Income Group (LIG) categories. Besides, it provides for their incentivization in the form of exemptions from building permit fee, land use conversion and external development charges.
The policy also aims to provide Rental Housing in which EWS families will be given dwelling unit on license basis for occupation and use for a particular period on making initial deposit and monthly charges.
The policy has been approved under the broader vision of meeting the growing requirement for affordable housing, slum redevelopment and rehabilitation and rental housing, for which an initial target has been set for construction of one lakh dwelling units over the next 5 years.
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