Feature
Delhi to have single helpline for civic grievances by 2017: Kejriwal
New Delhi: The Delhi government is planning a one-stop helpline for Delhiites, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said. But the helpline will have to wait till the municipal polls in 2017 which the AAP is hoping to win.
“We are planing a single helpline for people. But that will have to wait till we win the corporation elections in 2017,” Kejriwal told at the Delhi secretariat.
Kejriwal said he realised that a majority of civic complaints are related to grievances against the local corporations. But very few knew, he said, that the Delhi government had no control over these corporations — the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation – which are run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“But we keep getting the blame as people think that having voted us to power with such a large majority, we should be able to solve their problems,” Kejriwal said.
He also said that people, not knowing where to call, end up calling the wrong departmental helplines and were shunted around.
“People don’t know where to call. If the problem is related to MCD, they call up PWD. The helpline will be started only after we win the MCD poll,” Kejriwal stated.
“The call made at this (proposed) helpline will be forwarded to other departments depending on the nature of the grievance,” he added.
Presently, the Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Helpline — 1031– is among the most dialled ones. The Women’s Helpline — 181 — is another service run by the city government. There are also helplines related to water and power woes.
Delhi’s three main municipal corporation are controlled by the BJP. The elections to these civic bodies are due in early 2017.
With an eye on these polls, Kejriwal, along with his ministers, addressed a big rally of sanitations workers last week, assuring them that their grievances would be addressed once he came to power in civic bodies too.
“I assure you that we have a lot of ideas and we can turn the municipal corporations into a profitable civic agency within one year,” Kejriwal told the rally on Monday, alluding to the loss-making corporations and their inability to pay the salaries of sanitations workers, particularly in east and north Delhi, who have resorted to piling up garbage on the streets in protest.
“Though we are not ruling the corporations – east, north and south corporations – we are ready to help the BJP-led corporations,” he declared.
He also generously announced an advance of Rs.500 crore to the cash-strapped north and east corporations to enable them to pay the salaries of sanitation workers and other employees.
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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