DIPR
Imphal, Nov 8: Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bold step of demonetisation was welcomed by the people of the country and it has affected a lot to those wealthy people who don’t pay taxes to the government. The demonetisation and implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) has benefited various sectors of the country. This was stated by him while giving the message in connection with the observation of “Anti Black Money” Day being held across the country.
Chief Minister said that the objectives of demonetisation was to eradicate black money, to ban fake currency, terrorism and extremist funding, funding of drugs and illegal arms smugglings, to curb the black money menace, to encourage cashless transactions and use digital wallets and their credit/debit cards for money transfer for a transparent National Economy. One of the biggest achievements of demonetisation is that it pushed the country towards a digital economy and has encouraged in bringing a digital transaction revolution in the country. After demonetisation, there has been a 58 percent increase in digital financial transactions in the country. As a part of digital economy revolution, 52.4 Aadhar card has been linked with 73.62 crore bank accounts, he added.
Stating that the objective of the demonetisation is not just limited to curbing the black money, Chief Minister stated that the government has also taken up certain steps to curb Benami transactions and the use of black money in real estate deals. He mentioned that after the implementation of The Goods and Services Tax (GST) there has been an increase in government’s revenue collection. In Manipur too, the State government has able to collect a sum of Rs. 184.31 crores as revenue collection from July-September, 2017, he added.
N. Biren Singh said that there is a substantial increase in the numbers of Income Tax Returns and demonetisation has boosted income tax collections in the country. The income tax payers have been drastically increased from 66.53 lakhs in 2015-16 to 84.21 lakhs in 2016-17. For the 2016-17 fiscal year around 2 crore individuals have filed e-returns. For the current year 2017-18, around 3.01 crore individual have filed e-return till now. According to the reports by Banks and Financial institutions, around 4.7 lakhs illegal financial transactions are under scanner in the post demonetisation period in the country, he mentioned.
Chief Minister asserted that under the UPA regime from 2004-2014, the then Government allocated a sum of Rs. 627 crores only for the construction of Jiri-Tupul Railway line in Manipur. However, with the advent of NDA government under the leadership of Narendra Modi, Central Government has earmarked Rs 9,658 crore for the said railway project, he added. He further stated that the railway project is set to complete by December, 2019, three months earlier than the stipulated time. The Central Government has promised to allocate Rs. 25,000 crore for the construction of highways in the State where the construction of Barak and Makru bridge has already begun, he added.
With the installation of the new BJP led Government in Manipur, he said, various social welfare schemes has been launched and implemented whereby LPG connection were given to 21,320 families under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. Under the MUDRA scheme, Rs. 66.72 crore has been sanctioned to provide loans to 9,879 individuals for the year 2017-18. Among them Rs. 63.26 crores have been given to the beneficiaries. With an aim to provide Housing for All by 2022, 39,000 houses PMAY (Gramin) and 26,462 houses under PMAY (Urban) would be constructed in the State.
The Nation would celebrate 8th November as “Anti-Black Money” Day and a weeklong observance against the black money and corruption is being held from 4th -12th November, 2017 across the State.
