Public to have greater role in Swachh Bharat plan

FM Arun Jaitley had said in his Budget speech that there would be 100% tax deduction for contributions

The Cabinet on Wednesday cleared certain enabling provisions for the Swachh Bharat Fund to facilitate channeling of money from individuals and companies for one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet schemes. The contributions will given tax exemption.

"The Cabinet has approved enabling provisions for Swachh Bharat Kosh to enable people living in India and abroad and companies give funds for the clean Indian mission," news agency PTI quoted a senior minister after the Cabinet meeting. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said in his Budget speech that there would be 100 per cent tax deduction for contributions, other than by way of Corporate Social Responsibility contributions, to the Kosh.

"Most of the fund will be channelised to construct toilets," the minister said. While 50 lakh toilets have already been constructed in 2014-15, Jaitley assured members of Parliament that the target of building six crore toilets would be met. Modi had on August 15 last year given a call to achieve the objective of clean India by 2019, the 150th-year of the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, through the Swachh Bharat Mission.

While the fund was launched in November last, the Cabinet approved certain enabling provisions to make it operational.

Meanwhile, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das said at an industry function that Swachh Bharat cess of up to two per cent would be implemented  from the date of notification, if there is a need. It is not  that all services would draw this cess, he said, adding the government will be sensitive to its  impact on  various segments  of services.

Roads

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved four-laning of six highways, spread across five states — Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh — having a total length of 712 km at a cost of Rs 12,646 crore.