Meghalaya CM calls for stringent steps to arrest revenue leakages

Shillong, Oct. 15 (PTI): Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has called for more stringent monitoring by concerned government departments to arrest revenue leakages in the state.
Addressing a training programme on GST for State Tax Officers here on Monday, the chief minister said the state government is working at ways to strengthen and increase its revenue collection and urged all officers to be more innovative in their strategies to plug the loopholes and improve the system.

Lauding the efforts of revenue generation departments in meeting their annual targets, the chief minister at the same time cautioned the departments against complacency and exhorted officers to be committed to their work.

“I have observed that revenue collection figures for last year have gone up from INR 500 crore to INR 878 crore. I am sure that we will be able to achieve much more in this financial year. If all of us put our heads together and work together we will see a huge jump in revenue collection,” he said.

The chief minister said Meghalaya depends 85 per cent on central government revenue sources and stressed on the need to increase the states contribution by strengthening its sources of revenue.

He said similar training programmes would also be extended to all revenue-generating government departments to increase the knowledge base of field officers and personnel working at the grassroots level.