Feature
Civic employees continue continue agitation over non-payment of salaries
New Delhi:Striking employees of Delhi’s three civic bodies on Thursday continued their agitation over non-payment of salaries, with sanitation workers dumping garbage outside Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s office, even as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought fresh election to the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, who is undergoing naturopathy treatment for his chronic cough in Bengaluru, said the present MCD, controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), should be dissolved and fresh elections held.
“Management of an organisation which can’t pay salaries to employees doesn’t (have the right) to continue,” Kejriwal tweeted.
Over 1.5 lakh workers of the three wings of MCD, Delhi’s main civic body, began a three-day strike on Wednesday over non-payment of salaries.
All the three wings of the MCD — South, East and North — are controlled by the BJP, the AAP’s main rival in Delhi.
The MCD says the Delhi government, which is led by the AAP, owes money to it but is not paying up, and this is why salaries are not being paid to corporation employees.
The striking sanitation workers dumped garbage outside Sisodia’s camp office building in east Delhi.
“Many workers are not being paid their salary for two-to-three months. Despite several appeals, our demands are not considered,” said Sanjay Gehlot, president of the Mazdoor Vikas Sanyukta Morcha.
Gehlot warned of an indefinite strike if their salaries were not paid.
“Now it’s (Transport Minister) Gopal Rai’s turn. We will dump garbage outside his house tomorrow (Friday),” he added.
Denying the charge that the AAP government owes money to the civic agencies, Manish Sisodia too echoed Kejriwal’s demand.
“No money of MCD is due against Delhi government. Leaders of the civic bodies are telling a lie and are getting the garbage dumped outside my (camp office),” he said.
“BJP leaders are not able to run the MCD. So we want the central government to dissolve it and conduct fresh elections,” he added.
“We have already given money to MCD for 12 months. The MCD did not give us an account of the money spent. We should be told where that money has gone….”
The employees are seeking payment of arrears, regularisation of employees who have been working on contract, and merger of the three corporations.
In October last year, the sanitation employees of East Delhi Municipal Corporation went on strike for similar demands.
The MCD is the biggest of the three civic bodies in Delhi. The other two are the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), which oversees the heart of the capital, and the Delhi Cantonment Board.
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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