Sir,
This has reference to the news item ‘All girl band calls it quits’ DE Feb 5.
Hardly had the controversy surrounding Kamaal Hassan’s Vishwaroopam died down, that we have another surrounding the first all-girl band of Kashmir after surfaced in the Valley.
Music is a part of Kashmiri culture. There are scores of musical groups involved in production of music cassettes, television and radio items. Both men and women participate in these productions. It is quite ironical that these groups are performing without any restrictions while as the one which is unique in the sense that is is the ‘girls only’ group has come under attack from several quarters.
Instead of encouraging them they have been discouraged. As a result of it, they have decided to stop singing.Quite dismaying indeed! Though Government has assured them security, it will be difficult to instil in them a sense of security unless society is ready to accept them in singing mode.
Yours etc….
Anita Sood
Jammu
Let them sing
Retirement age
Sir,
The increase in retirement age of Medical, Dental Colleges of the State is an urgent matter which needs to be addressed at the earliest. There is acute shortage of staff in hospitals and because of it many hospital in the State suffer.
The increase in age will certainly bridge the widening doctor-patient ratio gap.
As has been reported, there is the lurking threat of Medical and Dental College being derecognised by Dental Council of India and Medical Council of India (MCI). In case such a thing happened it will give a severe blow to the health delivery mechanism in the State.
Therefore the Cabinet should consider this demand as urgent and give it a nod.
Yours etc….
Gurcharan Singh
Nanak Nagar
Baby theft
Sir,
The security apparatus in the State hospitals need to be strengthened made foolproof in light of the recent baby thefts in SMGS hospital in Jammu.
This is a grave crime and needs to be taken serious by the administration. The incidents clearly exposes the grey areas of hospital security and inability of the hospital administration to learn from past mistakes.
There is also need to open more maternity hospitals in the city to lighten the pressure on present hospital. This old hospital usually remains crowded with patients even from rural. Being old hospital and having experienced staff on roll, every expectant mother wishes to be treated here. The two baby theft cases have created fear among the families. This fear needs to be removed at once from people who want to be treated here.
Yours etc….
Dimpi Khanna
Gandhi Nagar
Deal with tax evasion
Nantoo Banerjee
Businessman Azim Premji, the country’s second richest person after Mukesh Ambani, may be a well-meaning person, but his suggestion at the recent World Economic Forum meet at Davos that it may be ‘politically correct’ to ask India’s super-rich pay a higher rate of tax will not go down well with India’s Richie-riches. Even the government is divided on the issue. Highly pragmatic Union Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram himself seems to disagree with the idea. Instead, he emphasizes the need for higher tax compliance. Chakravarthy Rangarajan, chairman of the prime minister’s economic advisory council, though favours super-tax for the super rich. Chidambaram may find imposition of inheritance tax more relevant in India in view of the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few. In fact, many Indian business tycoons think Premji, while justifying higher tax for the super-rich as “legitimate in a country as poor as ours”, might have been at best playing to the gallery knowing fully well the negative impact of such a tax regime on a handful of more tax-abiding businessmen and industrialists and the stock market. India’s problem, as Chidambaram has rightly assessed, is not about the under-taxed super-rich. It is about those super-rich tax evaders.
Over 50 percent of India’s 3.4 crore income-tax payers contribute insignificant amounts as tax – ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 1,000 in most cases. This reduces the effective tax base to around 1.5 crore taxpayers, which includes mainly corporate houses, the salaried class and Government pensioners. Well-heeled independent professionals and self-employed such as doctors, chartered accountants, lawyers, property agents, security agents, labour contractors, builders, architects, promoters, big shopkeepers, wholesale traders, private school, hospital and educational institute promoters, coaching class and nursing home operators contribute virtually nothing to the national exchequer. Today, they number several millions. These assesses with feisty lifestyles are reported to be filing tax returns that reflect incomes ranging from a mere Rs 1.5 to Rs 5 lakh a year. New tax payers added over the past three years show a decline, while a staggering 89 percent of existing assessees are bunched in the lowest income bracket of Rs 5 lakh or less a year. Tax collected in the assessment year 2011-12 in the Rs 0-10 lakh segment was Rs 21,094 crore, and Rs 10-20 lakh segment Rs 10,185 crore and above Rs 20 lakh segment Rs 53,170 crore. Only 1.85 lakh assessees or 1.3 percent of all taxpayers fall under the last category.
India’s early three decades of punitive tax regime between 1950 and 1980 with the income-tax rate slapped at 88 percent at the highest level. Additionally, dividend tax, wealth tax, corporate tax, gift tax, etc. and equally high excise and customs duty led to large-scale concealment of income by both individuals and companies and systematic creation of a parallel economy with increasing circulation of ‘black’ money, year after year. Excise and customs duty evasion, invoice manipulation, hawala transaction and illegal foreign bank accounts to circumvent the stringent foreign exchange regulation bolstered the black economy. The extremely high tax regime was first relaxed during the Rajiv Gandhi era between 1985 and ’89. The economic reform of 1992 brought about in stages a whole lot of tax reforms – direct and indirect – and India’s joining the World Trade Organisation totally eased the situation. But, the damage was done. For the country’s millions of high earning self-employed group, corrupt businessmen, politicians, bureaucrats, police and revenue department inspectors, the habit of income concealment and tax evasion continued.
Making the super-rich pay extra tax is not a new idea. However, it became rather trendy ever since United States President Barack Obama, serving his second term, proposed a new tax regime for the American super-rich and France suggested a 75 percent super-tax for its super-rich. The US Congress voted last month for a hike in tax rates on annual individual earning exceeding $ 4,00,000 and on couple more than $ 4,50,000 as a part of resolutions of crisis over the so-called fiscal cliff. The Dutch territory of Aruba in the Caribbean, which boasts the highest living standard, taxes its super-rich at 58.95 percent. Sweden, the world’s best-known welfare state, taxes its super-rich or those earning over $ 85,841 per annum at 56.60 percent. Its average annual individual income is around $ 48,800. Sweden, which also imposes 30 percent tax on investment income, guarantees all its citizens free education, subsidized healthcare and public transportation and basic pension among other benefits. The highest tax rates in Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium vary between 50 and 55.38 percent.
Considering the fact that India, home of the largest number of the world’s poor, offers hardly any social security to citizens, its existing tax rates are by no means low. It would have worked well for the country and the Government, if only it had a good tax compliance tradition. Currently, there exists a three-tier income-tax rate system in India – 10 percent for annual income up to Rs. 5 lakh, 20 percent above Rs. 5-10 lakh and 30 percent above Rs. 20 lakh. These rates were fixed in 1997. One may argue in favour of re-jigging them in view of extremely poor collection at the lowest level. The first slab could cover income up to Rs. 10 lakh, the second slab up to Rs. 30 lakh and third slab up to Rs. 50 lakh and, yet, another new slab above Rs. 50 lakh. However, it will be unfair to club all those earning above Rs. 50 lakh annually as India’s ‘super rich’ in the present context. Unlike in the United States, France, Russia, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Denmark, India’s super-rich are not a defined lot. Even if it is defined, the number of unlisted super-rich may far exceed the listed one. It would be unfair to make the latter pay higher tax leaving the unlisted one go scot-free. (IPA)
Women and Panchayats
Dr. Hrusikesh Panda*
Gram Sabha is the deepest form of Decentralized Governance where every voter of a Gram Panchayat is a member and can participate in decision making, approval of plans, rejection of plans and selection of beneficiaries.
The Gram Sabha is being increasingly modelled to be the ideal institution for social audit. The reason is that the Gram Sabha consists of people who are beneficiaries of schemes and programs and are at the spot when a program or a work is taken up and are the best judges of the quality of implementation of schemes and works. Therefore, Gram Sabha should be the best agency for social audit.
A problem with Gram Sabha has been that in many places, the attendance is poor. To begin with the agenda items are often limited to works taken up by the Panchayats and therefore many people have no interest to participate in the meeting. There is the question of wage loss for a day. In order to increase participation in Gram Sabha, it should have the time and wherewithal to take up a wide range of subjects. These subjects should be of interest to the majority of population. Examples of such subjects are: primary schools, mid-day meals, drinking water systems, sewerage systems, primary health care, child and mother care programs including Anganwadi and immunisation. Most of these problems are faced by women and not by men in the villages. Therefore, these subjects can be discussed only if there is sufficient participation of women.
Another set of subjects which affect women are cash income for management of household and food security. Public Distribution System is one part of food security. The other part of food is cash security, economic activities like agriculture, horticulture, dairy, fisheries, handlooms etc. Some of the activities incidental to these activities are irrigation, land management and soil conservation. Again, effective supervision over these programs by Gram Sabha is possible only if women participate sufficiently in the Gram Sabha meetings since they are witness to these activities and have to manage food security more often than men. It has not always been possible to ensure women’s participation in many parts of the country where women do not speak before men. Sometimes, the men would like women to attend to household chores and not attend meetings which they would consider wastage of time. As a result of this vicious cycle, participation of women becomes negligible in Gram Sabha meetings, Gram Sabha does not take up issues which affect most of the people, and then the participation further declines. To stem these problems, Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been taking up with the States to have special Gram Sabha meetings with a wider range of subjects.
Special Gram Sabha meetings to discuss nutrition were held in August, 2011 and again in August, 2012. These meetings were attended by functionaries incharge of women and child care, health, sanitation, drinking water, PDS, education, mid-day meal, agriculture, horticulture, dairy and fisheries. These meetings have seen greater participation of women and have also taken up issues which benefit a larger number of people and particularly women.
During October, 2012 special Gram Sabha meetings relating to women were held. The issues which had been flagged are Anganwadi Centres, health, sanitation, drinking water, prevention of violence against women & children, prevention of dowry and female foeticide. States have also been advised to have separate quoram for women in Gram Sabha in order to raise the attendance as well as participation of women. Among others, the States of Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Rajasthan and Odisha have responded on special Gram Sabha on women issue.
However, in addition to these efforts, it is necessary to have Mahila Gram Sabha meetings for various reasons. First, in a Mahila Gram Sabha meeting, presence and participation of women is much better than in a Gram Sabha meeting. Second, the Mahila Gram Sabha meeting also takes up more sensitive topics such as dowry, domestic violence, substance abuse, violence in public space, female foeticide and trafficking of women and children. Some States like Maharashtra have been holding Mahila Gram Sabha meetings before Gram Sabha meetings. We have been advising the States to constitute Mahila Sabha meetings in addition to Gram Sabha meetings. Recently, States like Rajasthan, Odisha and Karnataka have notified for holding Mahila Sabha meetings. Our experience shows that with increased participation of women in Gram Sabha meetings or Mahila Sabha meetings, for example, expenditure from MGNREGS is going for activities like irrigation and creation of water bodies which helps in raising income through agriculture, horticulture and fodder and also helps in improving drinking water supply.
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj had advised the States to have Special Gram Sabha and Mahila Sabha meetings to discuss gender issues with special focus on female foeticide and the social impact of having a larger number of men than women. It was advised that these meetings should also be organised to discuss the issue of adverse Child Sex Ratio and female foeticide. In the areas where Mahila Sabhas has not been constituted, they should be constituted and Mahila Sabhas should take up the matter of CSR. Since the monitoring committee of Anganwadis have been put under the control of Panchayat / Ward member and Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee (VHSNC) has been made a sub-committee of GP, Panchayats will have access to information on registration of pregnant mothers, birth of boys and girls and IMR/CMR. Therefore, Panchayats will be able to monitor sex ratio at birth and prenatal sex determination. I have attended several meetings of Gram Sabhas, Mahila Sabhas and workshops of elected Panchayat Representatives and seen how women are able to take up the problem of female foeticide upfront, discover the real reasons behind this mindset (violence against women in public space is a major concern) and how to face this.
Accordingly, Special Gram Sabha on gender issues were held in various states. In Haryana, in a programme 1500 women participated, at Julana Block on 1st September 2012. This programme was represented by people from seven Gram Panchayats. They took a solemn oath that they will make all efforts support to eradicate the social menace of female feticide. The women of these seven villages largely discussed the impact of having a lower number of women on public order and the well being of adults.
Special Gram Sabha on Gender issues was organized by Namunaghar, South Andaman on 30th October 2012 which was attended by 30 women and young girls. Among other issues, prevention of violence against women and children, prevention of dowry and female feticide were discussed. During this meeting, the people decided to organize Mahila Sabha to discuss women issues was emphasized.
The reservation for women among the elected representatives to Panchayats has increased the number of elected women representatives after 1993. This has helped in great extent in increasing political leadership of women in Local Self Government. The efforts of the Gram Sabha to take up issues which affect women and the constitution of Mahila Sabhas are empowering of women irrespective of whether they are elected or not. The enthusiasm of women in Mahila Gram Sabha meetings in some parts of the country where their participation earlier had been next to nothing is something to be seen to be believed.
Remarkable performance
Jammu and Kashmir Bank has emerged one of the prosperous banks of the country. Its history tells of the phenomenal growth over the years which would make an enviable story for any other bank under state patronage. By the end of December 2012, the number of its business units reached 662 and that of ATMs 581. The Bank envisages business target of one lakh crore for the current fiscal year and a net profit of rupees one thousand crore which is very remarkable. During the quarter ended December 2012, it has posted a profit of rupees 289.12 crore. The financial business of the bank for the current fiscal year has reached 92,732 crore rupees which is up by 11.18 per cent during the previous corresponding period. Giving a review of bank’s performance, Chairman and CEO Mushtaq Ahmad said that during the last 12 months business had grown by more than 14000 crore which means rupees 1150 crore for every month. Besides, it has opened 100 new business units and 120 ATMs. The net profit for the nine months ended December 31, 2012 increased by 35.26 per cent as it jumped to 805.02 crore rupees.
Obviously, the progress of the bank is revealed by exhaustive figures and statistics which the bank has provided. Progress is usually measured by examining comparative statistics. Commenting on what facilitated such a phenomenal progress in the business of the banks, the Chairman said that JK Bank had significantly improved corporate, retail and treasury banking portfolios. In comparison to two previous quarters, the cost of deposits had been brought down and that facilitated better advancing for the bank. The Chairman is confident of achieving the targets without losing focus on the impact and implications of bank’s expansion policy in terms of infrastructure, HR operational efficiency etc.
All these are very encouraging signs and we hope the bank will not remain content with the targets it has fixed but will work with far wider vision. The State is steadily moving along the path of economic progress and J&K Bank has played crucial part in that endeavour. The statistics that have been released indicate that the State is well on the track of business and financial improvement and that investment is becoming result oriented. But the prestigious bank has to play still bigger role in taking the state to financial self-sufficiency.
We think that J&K Bank is now well poised for taking the leading role in bringing about big social-economic change in the State. With its given financial stability, it could now begin thinking about launching mega developmental schemes especially in social sector. The bank needs to identify these sectors where it would make investment in a creative manner. The bank could consider classification of society into categories like women, student community, senior citizens and the handicapped and then proceed to draw socially supportive schemes for the improvement of their life and living standards. In western countries, banks have incorporated social-economic sector for investigation and treatment. For example, those banks invest considerably into researches in science and technology that could change the entire life pattern of segments of community. This is a vast field in which the scope of investment is worth considering.
We congratulate J&K Bank and its functionaries for their remarkable performance over the years. We do acknowledge that in terms of infrastructure, the bank has taken big strides to project its desired profile in right perspective. At the same time we are happy to note that business dealing at its numerous units is customer friendly. It has contributed to providing employment to the youth through expansion of its business activities and through providing loans to them for self employment or for educational purposes. It is the leading bank of the State and a bigger role is waiting it in days to come. We wish the bank progress and prosperity.
Quality education
Expansion of higher education in 10th and 11th Five Year Plans definitely speaks of government’s success in increasing admissions to higher institutes of learning. The figures provided by the Prime Minister in his address to the meeting of the Vice Chancellors of Central Universities called by the President show that higher education is among the priorities of Government’s planning. However the Prime Minister has been very candid in expressing his unhappiness that with expansion of higher education the rise in the quality of education provided has not been to his satisfaction. It pained him to say that not a single Indian university figures in the list of 200 top universities in the world. This is not a happy situation at all. The PM has hinted at a number of necessary reforms awaiting the entire structure of higher education, the faculty, the curricula, the level of research and output and general rise in the quantum of knowledge and presentation. He is very right that in the context of contemporary times, some subjects have lost employment potential and are becoming irrelevant. The educational policy needs to adapt to the changing times and requirements of society. He is very right in saying that the claim of expanding higher education is not enough. It is the quality of education and research and ultimately it’s utility to the society in making all-round progress that count. Just obtaining degrees is not going to serve the purpose of building the nation. The downslide trend in the quality of education and research needs to be arrested and the Vice Chancellors of Central Universities are supposed to take the lead in this urgent task.
Stage set for appointment of 6 High Court Judges
Neeraj Rohmetra
JAMMU, Feb 6: Stage is set for appointment of six new Judges of State High Court as the file pertaining to them has reached Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the necessary notification is likely to be issued within a fortnight.
Reliable sources told EXCELSIOR that the file for appointment of Judges had been forwarded by the Union Law Ministry to the Prime Minister’s office on January 31 this year. “Since then, the file has been lying with them and there is every likelihood that after necessary notings, the file will be sent to the Union Law Ministry again for issuance of notification in this regard within a fortnight”, sources added.
Sources elaborated that after Law Ministry comes up with the notification in this regard, the file will be forwarded to the office of President, Pranab Mukherjee for issuance of warrants of appointment for six Judges.
Earlier, on November 3 last year, the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India, Justice Altamas Kabir cleared all the six names recommended by the State Government for filling up of six vacant posts in Jammu and Kashmir High Court. After the necessary clearance, the names were forwarded to the Union Law Ministry.
With the filling up of six vacant posts, the strength of Judges in State High Court will increase from existing 7 to 13 against the total sanctioned strength of 14.
“Presently, the shortage of six Judges in the High Court was also taking its toll on the working of judiciary in the State. While three Judges are operating from the summer capital, four of their colleagues were working from Jammu”, sources said.
It is imperative that the appointment order for six Judges be issued soon as senior High Court Judge Justice J P Singh will retire on April 6. Besides, Special Judge CBI, B L Bhat, whose name is among the list of newly recommended Judges, is also due to retire in April this year.
The exercise to fill up the vacant posts of Judges was set in motion in the month of June, 2012 when the Collegium of the State High Court headed by the then Chief Justice had recommended the names of two Judges and five Advocates for the vacant posts.
However, retired High Court Judge Hakeem Imtiyaz Hussain’s younger brother and a prominent law publisher Advocate Hakeem Ishtiyaz Hussain died a day after his name was cleared and recommended by the Collegium of State High Court.
Thereafter, the six names were forwarded to the Chief Minister and Law Department and then to the Governor, who subsequently recommended the names to Supreme Court Collegium for its decision.
The names, which have been cleared for appointment as Judges of the State High Court are Bansi Lal Bhat, Special Judge CBI Court, Jammu, Janak Raj Kotwal, Member J&K Special Tribunal, Jammu (both from Judges quota), Senior Additional Advocate General, Ali Mohammad Magray, Senior High Court lawyers namely Azhar-ul-Amin, Dheeraj Singh Thakur and Tashi Rabstan from Leh (from Bar quota).
It would be after a long time that J&K High Court would be having 13 Judges against the sanctioned strength of 14 including the Chief Justice. The sanctioned strength includes 9 Permanent Judges and five Additional Judges. Presently, there are seven Judges of the State High Court including Chief Justice.
These are Chief Justice M M Kumar, Justice Virender Singh, Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir, Justice Jai Pal Singh, Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir, Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar and Justice Hasnain Massodi.
The filling up of six vacant posts of High Court Judges would go a long way in bringing down pendency of cases, sources said, adding presently thousands of cases are pending in Jammu and Srinagar wings of the High Court because of shortage of Judges.
Recently, Chief Justice of State High Court, Justice M M Kumar in an exemplary initiative had formulated an Action Plan and fixed targets for disposal of pending cases. The Action Plan yielded encouraging results and for the first time in history of judiciary nearly 13,000 pending cases of different nature were disposed of in different Courts within a short span of 90 days.
Meanwhile, two senior Judges of the State High Court — Justice Sunil Hali and Justice Pramod Kohli are also due to retire soon. While Justice Sunil Hali will retire on February 21, Justice Pramod Kohli will attain superannuation on March 1 this year. After their retirement, the State will be entitled for appointment of two more Judges from the State’s quota.
Alliance safe on 6 seats, PDP 1; fight for one Jammu seat
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Feb 6: The Election Commission would issue three notifications for elections to eight seats of Legislative Council on February 11 which would make a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), who formed part of Electoral College, eligible to cast three separate votes.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Legislative Assembly Secretary, Mohammad Ramzan, who has been appointed Returning Officer (RO) for the elections, would issue three set of notifications on February 11 inviting separate nominations from the residents of Kashmir division for four seats, residents of Jammu division for three seats and Doda district for one reserved seat.
Three notifications were necessitated as out of 24 MLCs elected by the MLAs, 12 seats each were reserved for Jammu and Kashmir divisions. Within Jammu division, one seat each was reserved for Doda and Poonch districts while in Kashmir division, one seat was reserved for Leh district, sources said.
The Council has a strength of 36. While 24 MLCs were elected by the MLAs, the Government nominated eight for a period of six years. Four MLCs were elected by the Panchayat members (two each from Jammu and Kashmir divisions) and two by members of the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), one each by Jammu and Kashmir divisions. Of 24 members elected by the MLAs, one-third had to retire after every two years.
Sources said in view of three notifications, the members would cast votes separately to elect four MLCs for Kashmir divisions, three MLCs for Jammu division and one MLC for a seat reserved for Doda district. The election for eight vacancies would be held on March 7.
Out of eight MLCs retiring on March 16, which necessitated the election, Mohammad Amin Bhat and Ali Mohammad Bhat (Congress), Mohammad Yusuf Taing (NC) and Nizam-ud-Din Khatana (PDP) had been elected against four seats of Kashmir division while Devender Singh Rana (NC), RS Chib (Congress) and Murtaza Khan (PDP) belonged to three seats of Jammu division. Naresh Gupta (Congress) had been elected from Doda (reserve) seat.
Going by strength of the National Conference-Congress Alliance in the Legislative Assembly, which has 47 members of its own (including two nominated women MLAs, who can cast votes for the MLC elections but not Rajya Sabha) coupled with support of Independents and others, the Coalition was in a position to retain three seats while the PDP could also get one of its nominee returned to the Upper House.
Doda reserve seat would safely go to the Alliance as single election would be held for it.
However, out of three seats of Jammu region, which would separately go to the polls, a keen battle could be witnessed for one seat as Alliance would capture two seats safely. For third seat of Jammu region, there could be a contest between ruling Alliance and opposition PDP.
Sources said seven votes of BJP rebels could also prove crucial for either side (the Government and the opposition). Even their abstentions could play an important role.
The election would be open like the Rajya Sabha polls and Election Agents authorized by the political parties could check the votes of their members. Going by the Assembly records, the BJP rebels were also BJP MLAs in the House though the party claimed to have not only expelled them from the party but also disqualified them from membership of the House. However, former Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone had refused to accept disqualification petition of the BJP.
Sources said three MLAs of National Panthers Party (NPP) could also play significant role for third seat of Jammu region as their votes would take the tally of PDP to 24. Worthwhile to mention here that the NPP had voted for PDP in MLC as well as Rajya Sabha elections. The NPP with just three MLAs had got its leader Syed Rafiq Shah elected to the Upper House with the support of PDP in 2009 elections.
In similar circumstances, the NC-Congress coalition Government had managed to win all three seats of Jammu region by engineering defections from the BJP with seven of its MLAs voting for Alliance candidates. The BJP candidate had polled only four votes despite the party having 11 MLAs.
Present strength of the Assembly is 87. As two nominated women MLAs also have the right to vote for MLC elections, it would take strength of the Electoral College to 89. The NC has 28 and Congress 17 MLAs. With two nominated women MLAs also voting for the coalition, the Alliance would have 47 votes on their own. Agriculture Minister GH Mir (DPN), CPM MLA MY Tarigami and Independent MLAs Charanjit Singh Jasrotia (Kathua), Engineer Rashid (Langate), Tsetan Namgayal (Nobra) and Hakim Mohammad Yasin (Khansahib) had earlier been voting for the Alliance.
JSM MLA Ashwani Sharma (Bishnah) had either abstained or remained associated with the opposition.
The PDP has 21 MLAs, BJP rebels (7), BJP (4) and NPP (3).
CCEA may hike copra MSP by Rs 250/qtl for 2013
NEW DELHI, Feb 6: Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is likely to consider a proposal to increase the minimum support price (MSP) of copra by up to Rs 250 to Rs 5,600 per quintal for the current year.
For 2012, the Centre had fixed MSP of milling copra at Rs 5,100 per quintal and ball copra at Rs 5,350 per quintal.
“CCEA is scheduled to meet tomorrow. The proposal related to copra MSP is on the agenda list,” sources said.
In the CCEA note, the Agriculture Ministry has proposed a Rs 250 per quintal increase in the MSP of ball copra at Rs 5,600 per quintal, while Rs 200 per quintal jump in milling copra at Rs 5,350 per quintal for 2013 season, they said.
The Ministry has proposed hike in the copra MSP despite the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) recommendation to the government to keep it unchanged for the current year in view of stagnant acreage and sluggish prices.
CACP is a statutory body that advises the government on pricing policy for major farm produce.
In the CCEA note, the Agriculture Ministry has also proposed that the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) to continue its price support operations of copra in 2013 season.
The area under the crop is little over 19 lakh hectares, while the production is around 14,745 million nuts.
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are major coconut producing states in the country. The crop is also grown in Assam, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, Goa, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Puducherry. (PTI)