Feature
Modi seeks end to deadlock on land bill, Congress skips meet
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the deadlock over land acquisition was seriously impacting rural development, as Congress chief ministers boycotted the Niti Aayog meeting called by him to discuss the contentious land bill.
Addressing a meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog here, Modi said political considerations should not come in the way of a solution to the imbroglio over land bill.
The meeting, days before parliament’s monsoon session opens on July 21, saw the participation of 16 chief ministers, including eight of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Congress, firmly opposed to the land acquisition bill of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, stayed away.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley later told the media that many states were keen on having their own land laws if there was a delay in building a national consensus over the contentious land bill.
In his remarks, Modi said the central and state governments must move together.
“The political deadlock over land acquisition is seriously impacting rural development, including the creation of schools, hospitals, roads and irrigation projects,” he said.
He said there was no difference between his government and states on paying enhanced compensation for acquired land.
Modi said several states had raised concerns about the land bill enacted by the United Progressive Alliance government in 2013, saying “development work was suffering” due to its provisions.
He said some chief ministers also wrote to him seeking changes in the 2013 act.
Modi told the meeting that the views of states would be kept in mind by the government.
Congress spokesperson R.P.N. Singh said the party’s chief ministers did not go for the NITI Aayog meeting as the Congress stance on “land bill was clear”. He said the Congress was against changes to the 2013 act.
Jaitley took a dig at Congress chief ministers.
“Those who chose to boycott must introspect whether not attending the meeting is in tune with the spirit of federalism. You can come and express alternative opinion,” he said.
“The chief ministers (at the meeting) said that either the centre must evolve a consensus or give enough flexibility to states to frame their own land law. (States) cannot wait indefinitely for a consensus.”
He said both Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal favoured the 2013 act.
Jaitley said the alternate view was that states faced hurdles in economic development due to delays in land acquisition.
“Land is needed for creating alternative employment for farmers, labourers. It is required for development, infrastructure, industry, jobs, housing,” he said.
Apart from nine Congress chief ministers, those who did not come for the meeting included West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, Uttar Pradesh’s Akhilesh Yadav, Tamil Nadu’s J. Jayalalithaa and Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik.
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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