Siddaramaiah says no to additional cess for Swachh Bharat scheme

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said the State is not in a position to impose any additional cess to raise money for the implementation of Swachh Bharat scheme.

Participating in Niti Ayog’s sub-committee meeting on Swachh Bharat, the chief minister said Karnataka is already considered a highly-taxed State and it would not be possible to increase tax further.

Whatever money is required for the scheme, the Centre can raise it by imposing additional tax as per its convenience, he said.

Of the total funding for the scheme, 90 per cent should be borne by the Centre while the remaining 10 per cent should be shared by the State government, he added.

The per unit cost for a community toilet may be increased to Rs 20 lakh as construction costs have changed. Tax incentives on recycled material, energy from waste, recycled water and compost may be considered for viability, he said.

“Accessing funds and creating an institutional framework which enables optimal utilisation of these funds is an important need. Funds from corporates under Corporate Social Responsibility and other external sources need to be routed through a State-level Swachh Bharat Kosh or Cell,” he said.

“Given also the vast scale of work in the sanitation programme, including construction of community toilets and addressing solid and liquid waste problems, Karnataka has proposed a Procurement Support Cell to be established at the State-level to extend the required technical information and its dissemination to relevant stakeholders,” he said.