Ministers to now pay income tax; Cabinet revokes 52-yr-old rule

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav chaired a meeting of the Council of Ministers in Mantralaya on Tuesday. In the meeting, Cabinet decided that State ministers will have to pay their income tax, instead of the State Government bearing such burden. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav in a statement said that the Cabinet has taken a decision to strike off the 1972 rule, under which the State Government was paying the income tax on the salaries and perks of ministers. The Cabinet decided that all ministers will pay the income tax on their salaries and allowances, Yadav said. State Urban Administration Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said that during the Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister gave a suggestion that the ministers themselves pay their income tax. The suggestion was accepted and hence the decision was taken in this regard, he said. Besides, to provide soil testing facilities to the farmers at the development block level, the Council of Ministers has approved making buildings of new soil testing laboratories and available laboratory equipment available to young entrepreneurs/institutions by the Department of Farmer Welfare and Agriculture Development. Through this, soil health cards will be made available to farmers by testing their soil samples through young entrepreneurs/institutions.

 

The Council of Ministers has decided to amend the Madhya Pradesh Local Authorities (Election Offences) Act 1964, (updated 2014). Due to the non-inclusion of ‘print media’ in clause (b) of Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act 1951 of the Election Commission of India, Madhya Pradesh has decided to make the Representation of the People Act 1951 as per the recommendation of the State Election Commission by amending clause (b) of Section 3(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Local Authorities (Election Offences) Act 1964, by approving the deletion of the word ‘print media’ from the existing provision. The Council of Ministers decided to amend the policy of tree plantation using the CSR/CIR funds through Joint/Community Forest Management Committees published in the Gazette dated December 10, 2021. The Council of Ministers has decided to give scholarships to the bona fide students of Madhya Pradesh studying in Sainik Schools of other states. It may be noted that Sainik School is a specialised education-oriented establishment. The provision of scholarships for the bona fide students of the state will increase the enthusiasm among the youth of the State for admission to Sainik Schools being run in other states.

 

The Council of Ministers decided to amend the Madhya Pradesh Work (Allocation) Rules to hand over the work related to railway projects from the Transport Department to Public Works Department. The work of co-ordination with the Railway Department for the proposal of new railway lines and their construction and construction works will now be done by the Public Works Department. As per the proposal of the Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission, the Council of Ministers approved the Madhya Pradesh Municipality (Amendment) Bill 2024 concerning amendments to sections 20 and 45 of the Madhya Pradesh Municipality Act, 1961 in consultation with the Law and Legislative Affairs Department. The Council of Ministers has decided to introduce and pass the Madhya Pradesh Correctional Services and Prison Bill 2024, in the Assembly. Also, the jail department has been authorised to take all the action.