Feature
Centre to permit states to make changes to land act: Jaitley
New Delhi: The NDA government will permit states to make amendments to the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday.
In an article on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s website, Jaitely said he was of the opinion that the 2013 Act “is a badly drafted legislation” with a “lot of ambiguities and obvious errors” which need to be corrected.
He said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had made changes to the 2013 Act on the suggestion of state governments but Congress changed its position and opposed the ordinance first issued in December last year for “political reasons”.
He said the ordinance brought by the NDA government lapsed on Monday and questions were being raised about the nature and future of land acquisition in India.
Referring to the prime minster’s meeting with chief ministers in Niti Aayog on the land bill, Jaitley said the state governments could decide on exemptions from consent and social impact assessment in any of the five areas including projects for national security, rural infrastructure, affordable housing, industrial corridors and infrastructure projects where land ownership is with government.
The Modi government in its new land bill had provided for these exemptions but the BJP subsequently changed its position in the joint parliamentary committee which is examining the bill.
Congress chief ministers had boycotted the Niti Aayog meeting on land bill with the party making it clear that it was opposed to changes to the 2013 Act which was passed during the rule of United Progressive Alliance government.
Jaitley said that objective of 2015 ordinance was to give certain flexibility to the states.
“That flexibility is made available to the states even now under the decision taken in chief minister’s meeting,” he said.
Jaitley said that the present position was that “the 2013 Act occupies the field”.
“The bill remains for consideration of the standing committee and if some consensus suggestions are made, the same would be implemented. If any state wishes to make some amendments in the central law, the same would be permitted by the central government,” Jaitley said.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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