The mood in the industry and businesses is upbeat following the willingness displayed by the government to get the stakeholders on board and also due to the easing of regulations that have come about
The Government of India achieved a milestone of sorts on August 15 in reducing the pain experienced by citizens and businesses in following the red tape and corruption-ridden rules and regulations- from getting a ration card to using it to setting up a business and operating it.
It reduced over 23,000 compliances, but more is needed for ease of living and doing business. Repealing/subsuming redundant Acts/Rules, decriminalisation of minor offences, and use of new-age technologies to reduce compliance burden are included in this.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said, “The DPIIT has been making a genuine effort to provide a single-window for approvals amongst various ministries at the centre and also at the state and local levels. The setting up of single-window systems for approvals and clearances is helping reduce compliance burden and has yielded results and over 23,000 have already been done away with.”
According to the government, the Phase II of compliance reduction has ended. There are two broad categories. One: those based on self-assessment and the other based on suggestions by industry associations like CII and ASSOCHAM.
Under the first category, both central and state governments slashed 23,483 compliances that citizens and businesses were subjected to. In the second category, 93 have been trimmed.
The exercise to reduce compliance burden was divided into Phase I and Phase II, which concluded onMarch 31, 2021 and August 15, 2021, respectively.
Phase I had focused on reducing the regulatory burden on businesses and was related to renewals of licences/certificates/
As part of this exercise, Ministries and States/UTs conducted a detailed self-assessment of compliances that need to be simplified/ rationalised to reduce the compliance burden on businesses and citizens. A Regulatory Compliance Portal to record large datasets of compliances and track action taken to reduce them by the Ministries and States/UTs was launched by DPIIT.
The one ration card one shop system was jettisoned for the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) Scheme. It now covers about 69 crore beneficiaries. All, particularly migrant beneficiaries, have been able to claim either full or part food grains from any fair price shop (FPS) in the country through an existing ration card.
Also 18 services associated with Driving Licence, Registration Certificate, etc. have gone online and contactless.
The CHAMPIONS portal enables MSMEs to register and track grievances, make suggestions and seek guidance, access information related to policies and schemes, and seek suggestions and submit ideas.
Another portal MSME SAMPARK has been launched to bridge the talent gap for small businesses. Students of MSME technology centres can register on the portal and get noticed by over 6,000 recruiters. Over 4,72,500 jobseekers are already registered. In the department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Care App has been launched to facilitate validation of ISI hallmarked products in a few clicks. Now Users can verify details of manufacturers, view licence or registration status, and locate BIS-recognised labs. Of the total 72,23,013 articles received for hallmarking, 63,19,428 have the stamp on them. Of these 92,810 are gold registrations and 8,894 are for silver.
Though a lot more needs to be accomplished, the mood in the industry and businesses is upbeat following the willingness displayed by the government to get the stakeholders on board and also due to the easing of regulations that have come about
A senior ministry of science and technology official said, “For Indian entities, there would be complete deregulation with no prior approvals, security clearances, licences, etc. for acquisition and production of geospatial data and related services. All geospatial data produced using public funds, except classified geospatial data collected by security/law enforcement agencies, will be made accessible for scientific, economic and developmental purposes to all Indian entities without any restrictions on their use.”
The compliance reduction story is spread across most Indian states. For example, in Gujarat, land records from 1931 to 2004 have been digitised. In Madhya Pradesh, the state Industrial Development Corporation (MPIDC) has implemented an online system for simplification in land allotment procedures in areas managed by it.
In Rajasthan, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Facilitation of Establishment and Operation) Act, 2019 now provides exemption from approvals and inspections for establishing and operating the micro, small and medium enterprises for a period of three years.
In Punjab, the working of “Sewa Kendras” has been strengthened. The state also plans Doorstep delivery and Tatkal services from these Sewa Kendras.
In a first of its sorts, Punjab has enacted the Punjab Anti-Red Tape Act, 2021 that mandates the departments to reduce the burden of compliance by at least 50 per cent within six months of implementing the Act. Assam enacted the Ease of Doing Business Amendment Act, 2020 to introduce auto-renewals of clearances, certificates, licences based on online self-declaration.
Though a lot more needs to be accomplished, the mood in the industry and businesses is upbeat following the willingness displayed by the government to get the stakeholders on board and also due to the easing of regulations that have come about.
************************************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com
************************************************************************
