Feature
All villages to be electrified by 2018: Jaitley
New Delhi: Aiming to empower villages through a hike in MGNREGA funds, poverty alleviation and 100 per cent electrification by May 2018, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday focussed on rural India.In his Budget speech, Jaitley said 100 per cent electrification of villages will be achieved by May 1, 2018. The government has allocated Rs 4,843 crore to electrify the rural areas under the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana in financial year 2017-18.The Finance Minister also announced a 24 per cent hike for rural, agricultural and allied sectors as compared to last year, allocating Rs 1,87,223 crore for financial year 2017-18.”The government will continue to work closely with the farmers and the people in the rural areas to improve their life and environment. This is a non-negotiable agenda for our government,” Jaitley said in Parliament.
Announcing to build one crore houses for the homeless and those living in kutcha houses by 2019, Jaitley allocated Rs 23,000 crore for 2017-18 against Rs 15,000 crore allocated last year.Jaitley also said the government aims to make one crore households and 50,000 Gram Panchayats “poverty free” by 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.Stating that 133 km of new rural roads were paved every day in 2016-17 against 73 km per day during 2011-14, Jaitley dedicated Rs 27,000 crore for rural roads for financial year 2017-18 against Rs 19,000 crore last year.”Hundred per cent targets for roads were achieved in the Left wing extremist areas during the last financial year,” the Finance Minister said.
Stating that the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) has made tremendous progress, Jaitley said the open defecation-free villages are now being given priority for piped water supply, under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP).”We propose to provide safe drinking water to over 28,000 arsenic and fluoride affected habitations in the next four years,” Jaitley said.Speaking of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Jaitley said participation of women in the scheme has increased from 45 per cent to 55 per cent.
The Finance Minister also announced that the budget for MGNREGA has been increased to Rs 48,000 crore for 2017-18 from Rs 36,500 crore in 2016-17.He also announced that for better monitoring, geo-tagging of all MGNREGA assets is being done and space technology will be used for better transparency.The minister said five lakh farm ponds and 10 lakh pits were fully achieved in 2016-17 and about 10 lakh farm ponds would be completed by March 2017 under MGNREGA.”My overall approach, while preparing this budget, has been to spend more in rural areas, infrastructure and poverty alleviation and yet maintain the best standards of fiscal prudence,” 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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