BRAINSTORMING ON ADDITIONAL RESOURCE MOBILIZATION CONCLUDES WITH OPTIMISM PROPER REVIEW OF THE CURRENT TAXATION POLICY A MUST: M LUIKHAM

A one-day brainstorming session on the theme ” Additional  Resource Mobilization in Manipur” was held yesterday at the Institute of Co-operative Management, (ICM),Lamphelpat. The discussion programme was organised by the Steering Committee constituted by the Department of Planning, Govt. of Manipur.

Director, Commerce & Industries, Govt. of Manipur, M Luikham, I.A.S ; Former Director, Economics & Statistics, Govt. of Manipur, Shri O. Biren; Chairman, Steering Committee, Two-Day State Level Seminar on Development Priority, Prof. N.Mohendro and Director, ICM,Lamphelpat, Dr.N.Ranjana Devi chaired the briefing session as resource persons.

High ranking officials of the Department of Commerce & Industries and Forests, Govt. of Manipur, faculties of MU and its affiliated colleges, entrepreneurs, intellectuals and other concerned officials participated in the brainstorming session.

Opening the programme, Shri O. Biren said that as per 2016-17 Budget estimate, State’s tax income consists of 3.9 % that is about Rs.667.20 crores while the non-tax income is about 5.67% that is about Rs. 199.22 crores. The State’s share out of the Central tax is 14.34% that is equal to Rs.3561.89 crores  while income from other resources of the Govt. of India is 76.02% that is equivalent to Rs. 4947.39 crores.Stating that due to small non-tax utilisation in Manipur, there is a need for additional finance, he mentioned the main sources of the State’s tax as: land revenue,State’s Excise duty,Sales Tax,Stamp & Registration,Electricity,Entertainment Tax,Professional Tax, Taxes on Vehicles,Taxeson Passengers & Goods, Agriculture & Income Tax,Urban Immovable Property Tax and others that include the Hill-House Tax.As the Planning Unit of the State is not performing its duties for proper documentation, he is of the view that we cannot update information if we don’t have a documentation cell in each dept.  without which the calculation of the exact Index of Industrial Production (IIP)  is not possible.

Stating that the Industry,Agricultue and Horticulture Depts. should collaborate together for marketing the forests products of Manipur  like mint, ginger, pineapple,lemon grass etc.outside the State,  Dr.N.Ranjana Devi said that infrastructure, sensitisation, awareness and connectivity should be given to the farmers so as to sell  these products  in the global market.She continued that single-cropping alone cannot suffice the needs of the people.

Grieving his concerns over the pitfalls of tax-evasion, Assistant Professor, Economics Dept. MU, Shri Chinglen Maisnam said that we need to discuss everything in connection with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill.

Citing the example of branded liquor as a means of great foreign exchange in developed countries like the U.S & Scotland, entrepreneur Th. Jotin of Tata Tiscon , elaborated how we can develop the quality of  our local liquor of Sekmai and Andro  and export it to regions outside Manipur.”This will generate income as well as employment for the State”, he said.

Drawing attention of the urgent need to review the present Taxation Policy in the State, Director, Commerce & Industries, Govt. of Manipur, M Luikham said that it is high time to discuss the issue with the Govt. concerning leakages in Excise & Tax duty,resource mobilisation,re-analysis of  prohibitory measures and its social impact.”On creation of any public asset like hall,bus stand,drainage,playground etc, Govt. should think pro-actively if it is multi-beneficial to the society “, he also said.

Giving his point of view to promote entrepreneurs in Manipur as a means of extra income generation, MIMS,MU Prof. L Jibonkumar  said, “Govt. can use E-Gvernance to curb the problem of tax-evasion and bring economic development by interlinking different Depts. As forest is our life, proper time planning is required for achieving the  set target of Rs 100 crores”.