There shouldn't be any exemption of excise duty for beedi mfgs producing less than 2 lakh beedis: TN MP

Chennai, Mar 14 (KNN) There should not be any exemption of Excise duty for the beedi manufacturers who produce less than two lakh beedis, Vijila Sathyananth, AIADMK MP from Tamil Nadu, recently said.

The Rajya Sabha MP, in a debate on March 11, said that the entire amount collected through cess should be fully utilized for the welfare of the beedi workers.

“Eighty per cent of the cess amount is now utilized for infrastructure development, staff salary, maintenance and administration while 20 per cent alone is being spent on the welfare of these people. I urge the Government to fully utilize the cess amount for the welfare of the beedi workers,” she said.

The MP said this while raising the issue of housing scheme for beedi workers' saying it has become an utter failure in the last ten years.

“Lack of proper implementation of housing schemes has resulted in untold sufferings for them, as many got Rs. 20,000 as the first installment but could not complete their houses since the second and final installment of Rs. 20,000/- was not received at all,” she said.

Now, the Government have announced an increased housing subsidy of Rs. 1.5 lakhs for the beedi workers. But orders have not yet been issued. There are 250 such pending cases of disbursal of housing subsidy that have been reported from Tirunelveli district, pointed Sathyananth.

Additionally, funds may be allocated from social security schemes for maintenance, staff salary, administration, etc.

She requested the Finance Ministry to allocate funds out of the Social Security Scheme and not impose this burden on the beedi workers, who mainly come from the unorganized sector.

Further, she also mentioned that of the five lakh beedi workers in Tamil Nadu, 80 per cent reside in Tirunelveli district.

“The scholarships for beedi workers' wards' have not been released for the academic years 2013-14 and 2014-15. There is a backlog of Rs. nine crores to be given away as scholarships to the poor beedi workers' children and the full amount of Rs. 14 crores have not yet been released for the year 2014-15,”she emphasized. (KNN Bureau)