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Naidu seeks time to submit CMs' panel report on Swachh Bharat

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
The Chief Minister's Sub-Group on Swachh Bharat has sought more time from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to submit its report.

"I requested the Prime Minister to give some more time to submit the report. We have prepared the report with consensus of all nine chief ministers (on board)," Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters after his meeting with Modi here.

Naidu, who is also the convenor of the panel, said the panel has recommended 75 per cent funding by the Centre and the remaining 25 per cent by the states.

The final meeting of the Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Swachh Bharat Mission was held at NITI Aayog on September 23. After the meeting, the panel had entrusted NITI Aayog to finalise its report within 10 days.
 

The panel has suggested in its report to levy cess on telecom services, petrol, diesel, iron ore and mineral wealth like coal to fund Swachh Bharat in the next five years.

The panel has also pitched for viability gap funding, tax exemptions and separate tariff for waste-to-energy and compost projects.

It has also suggested providing a construction aid of Rs 15,000 per toilet and barring people with no toilets at their homes from contesting elections.

The panel has recommended that the financial burden for implementing the programme should be shared in the ratio of 75:25 between the Centre and states while this should be 90:10 for difficult states (i.E. Those with hilly terrain).

Besides, it wants the performing states to be allocated special funds to incentivise the scheme.

All for tax exemptions (for VAT, excise, etc) and other regulatory support for waste management projects, the panel speaks of guidelines for constructing community toilets.

It has detailed suggestions on dealing with debris and construction and medical waste.

The panel has asked for organising annual festivals to hold competition under the Swachh Bharat Mission by conferring 'Swachh District and States' awards.

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First Published: Oct 05 2015 | 10:42 PM IST

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