The Niti Aayog Chief Minister's sub-group, headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, submitted a detailed report to the Prime Minister on Wednesday (14 October), dovetailing the ways to mobilise funds for a massive nationwide programme.
Modi complimented the chief ministers for their efforts, saying that the task of accomplishing Swachh Bharat, though difficult, is not impossible to achieve.
To raise resources for the programme, Swachh Bharat bonds may be issued and a Swachh Bharat cess may be levied by the central government on petrol, diesel, telecom services and also on accumulated waste produced by plants generating mineral waste like coal, aluminium and iron ore, according to the Prime Minister's official website narendramodi.in.
"Given the scale and importance of the programme, it has been suggested that the sharing pattern of funds for this programme between Centre and states may be in the ratio of 75:25, while for hilly states it may be kept at 90:10," it said.
The panel recommended to reduce the subsidy on chemical fertilizer and increase the subsidy on compost to encourage its use. "In order to improve the viability of waste management activities, the report proposes provision of tax exemptions by the centre and the State government to the private sector," it said.
The Finance Bill 2015 has mandated the government to levy Swachh Bharat Cess at a rate of 2 per cent or less on all or certain services, if need be.
The sub-group of chief ministers on Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan was constituted on March 24, following the decision taken in the first governing council meeting of the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog held on February 8, and consisted of chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West Bengal as members with chief minister of Andhra Pradesh as the convener of the sub-group, which meets four times in New Delhi, Chandigarh and Bengaluru for deliberations on various subjects.
