The Maharashtra government is going to scrap the controversial Local Body Tax (LBT), Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao on Wednesday told the state legislature in Mumbai.
"The Local Body Tax will be cancelled after making alternative arrangement shortly," he said in his address to the House after the BJP government won the trust vote.
LBT was supposed to replace the octroi, however the trader community is opposed to it on the ground that it is complicated and involves a lot of paperwork. The government will issue a white paper on the financial position of the state, liabilities, future plans and necessary measures for more transparent, effective expenditure, he said.
The government will felicitate the brave children who save others' lives by risking their own by constituting an award in the name of the late police constable Tukaram Ombale ('Hutatma Tukaram Ombale Balveer Award'), he said.
Special women's squads would be created and deployed for the safety of women in the public places, adequate women police officers would be recruited; mobile phone technology will be used to prevent the violence against women, he said.
The government will make serious efforts to improve the low conviction rate, especially in the cases related to atrocities against scheduled castes and tribes, he added.
"My government shall enable the police to take recourse to best private legal support to achieve higher conviction rate. Witness protection programme shall be encouraged," he said.
Saying that the state required huge investments for completing several ongoing projects in irrigation, transportation and basic infrastructure, the Governor added that there was a need to reorient public expenditure, eliminate revenue deficit and make more resources available for investment in capital assets.
"My government will devise a special strategy to control unnecessary expenditure, plug financial leakages, improve investment climate and reduce corruption. The government will launch a time-bound plan for speedy implementation of various pending projects with special emphasis on addressing the regional disparity in the state," he said.
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