By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR:Starting from some opposition party leaders in Odisha, leaders of other political parties are trying to mislead the people of Odisha by giving various false information. A bill was introduced in Parliament by the Central Government to amend some of the laws that have been in force since 1957 by the MMDR, which was first passed in the Lok Sabha on August 12 and 13 and then in the Rajya Sabha and will soon be implemented as a law after being signed by His Excellency the President. Minerals are a national asset and the successful Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has set a goal to invest it well. The BJP government is committed to building a developed India by 2047. This wonderful law has been brought to add value to the mineral resources in that developed India. This law has been brought to make the system that was in the mining tax system more systematic. This will benefit all mineral-rich states including Odisha and above all the country, said State General Secretary Shri Bingrachi Narayan Tripathy at a press conference held at the state office.
Mr. Tripathi said that the opposition is misleading the people of Odisha without telling them about the benefits being received by Odisha. The opposition also tried to mislead them in this way during the implementation of GST. In 2016, Odisha received about Rs. 15,000 crore in tax, while this year it has received Rs. 60,928 crore due to the implementation of GST. Now they are doing the same propaganda on the amendment in the MMDA Act. In 2014, before the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power at the Center, the Odisha government was receiving about Rs. 5,000 crore in mining tax. But after the amendment in the MMDA Act in 2015, the Odisha government is receiving about 10 times that, i.e. Rs. 50,000 crore in revenue from mining auctions and other sources. When this law was amended in 2014-15, the then Odisha government strongly opposed it. They campaigned that Odisha would suffer. But the result went in favor of Odisha. Ever since the successful Prime Minister Modiji took charge of the country at the Centre, he has not allowed any state to suffer. Especially Eastern India and Odisha have benefited the most in terms of economy and all other aspects during his tenure.
On the other hand, when the BJD government was in power, the biggest corruption in Odisha was mining corruption. This was said by the Honorable Justice Madan B. Lokur of the Supreme Court, in 2017, during the hearing of Case No. WPC 114/2014, Common Cause v. Government of India. And why is the then Chief Minister Bhadraloki showing up today? According to the Shah Commissioner’s report, what did the then Chief Minister Naveen Babu-led government do for the huge loss that Odisha suffered due to mining corruption? Earlier, the governments of different states used to impose many types of taxes in the name of taxes. There was no uniformity in these taxes. The Modi government has amended this law to bring some uniformity in this tax in the country. Earlier, the states could get 90 percent of the tax directly from mineral resources, now they can also get the same. According to other estimates, the states will get about 96 percent of the money. The center will get only 4 percent of the money, the same amount it was getting earlier. The people of Odisha want to know why some people are facing problems due to this tax reform.
The then BJD government brought the ORISED Act in 2004 to levy a 20 percent tax on the annual value of land with minerals, which was struck down by the Orissa High Court on December 5, 2005. They remained in power for nearly 18 years and only dragged the case but did not try to win it. That case is still going on today. At that time, there was a Congress government at the center and a PSU of the central government took up this case. The kind of drama that the BJD is doing today in collaboration with the Congress, which the people of Orissa will not accept.
Odisha will not suffer any loss from the MMDR Act, but will benefit. Investment will come to Odisha. Various industries that can be developed by exploiting the mines will also be developed in Odisha, which will benefit the youth of Odisha. The Odisha government will also benefit in the form of various taxes, said Shri Tripathy. Senior leader Professor Purna Chandra Mallick was present at this press conference.
