Thiruvananthapuram: Two bills regarding waste management - the Kerala Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Kerala Municipality (Amendment) Bill, 2024 - were referred to the Subject Committee by the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
The Panchayatiraj Bill envisaged imprisonment of up to one year and a fine of Rs 50,000 for those who discard waste in public places. There is also a provision to impose a fine of Rs 5,000 on the spot by the local secretary against the dumping of garbage.
Minister of Local Self-Government M B Rajesh said the Bills intended to make waste generators to manage them. He further stated that the user fee paid to the Harita Karma Sena could not be scrapped. Responding to the Opposition in Assembly, Rajesh said the government would consider altering the user fee based on the house's size, and the number of residents.
Altering the user fee for commercial establishments, too, could be considered based on the quantity of waste generated, the minister added.
The Assembly also referred the Kerala Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2024 to the subject committee to introduce 28 per cent GST on cash gambling. The Center had fixed 28 per cent GST on betting, casinos, horse racing and online games. Accordingly, a provision was made in the State GST Act. This was earlier implemented as an ordinance.
