Haryana gives VAT exemption on sale of green mehndi leaves

In order to place the traditional 'Mehndi' Industry of Haryana at par with neighbouring states, the Government today exempted sale of 'Green Mehndi leaves and its powder' from the levy of VAT.
A decision to this effect was taken by Haryana Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar here today, an official release said.
At present, VAT at the rate of five per cent was being levied on traditional 'Henna' (Mehndi) in Haryana. No VAT is levied on the sale of traditional Mehndi in the neighbouring states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, it said.

Exemption from levy of VAT will enable the traditional Mehndi industry of the state to compete on level terms with the dealers of the neighbouring states. Faridabad district is the main centre of business of Mehndi in Haryana, it said.
This exemption will cost about Rs 50 lakh to the state exchequer. However, 'Kali Mehndi' as well as 'Herbal Mehndi' will continue to be taxed at the rate of 12.5 per cent in the state.
In another decision, the Haryana Cabinet also decided to nominate Urban Local Bodies Department as Nodal Department for the issues related to Urban Transport System.

It was observed that integration of land use and Urban Transport System is pre-requisite for efficient and sustainable urban planning and it can be possible only under the aegis of a single department dealing with both the Urban Transport and land use planning.

Haryana Cabinet also approved the proposal to give 50 acres of land of Government Livestock Farm, Hisar to the Municipal Corporation, Hisar to set up Gau Abhayaran (cow sanctuary) and cattle pond. The land would be given at a rate of Re one per acre per year for 33 years.
The Cabinet today also decided to cover the guest or temporary teachers working in the state run schools under its Policy for providing compassionate financial assistance to the family of the deceased persons working in Government Departments, Boards, Corporations, Public Undertakings under Haryana Government on ad-hoc, daily wage, contract basis including persons working on contract basis through service providing agency.

The Cabinet approved the proposal to amend the policy to give a financial assistance of Rs three lakh which would be given to family of deceased guest teacher appointed in government schools.
The Cabinet also decided to provide government job to
Jitender Kumar, a resident of village Sunped, district Faridabad "as an exceptional case in public interest."
It was decided to compensate the family which had lost two children "due to unnatural causes in 2015".
The qualification of Jitender Kumar is matriculate. Since the case to provide job to him is not covered under the government policy dated May 30, 2014, the Cabinet decided to give him employment on the consideration of the case being of "peculiar nature", the release said.

Notably, in Sunped village, the house of a Dalit family was set ablaze, allegedly by upper caste men, resulting in the death of two children, in October last year.
In another decision, Haryana Government decided to promulgate an ordinance further to amend the Haryana Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2005. This ordinance will be called as the Haryana Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016.
"The amendment for the financial year 2015-16 to 2019-20 is necessitated because of the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission whose recommendations were accepted by the Government of India. The amendment replaces the earlier stipulations of the 13th Finance Commission to bring in fiscal responsibility among all states and Union Government," it said.

The fiscal deficit will now be anchored to an annual limit of three per cent of GSDP. The state will be eligible for flexibility of 0.25 per cent of the GSDP if the debt-GSDP ratio was less than or equal to 25 per cent in the preceding year.
State will be further eligible for an additional borrowing limit of 0.25 per cent of GSDP in a given year if the interest payments were less than or equal to 10 per cent of the revenue receipts in the preceding year.