Mah govt rejects demand for scrapping 15p surcharge on BEST commuter

Mumbai, Apr 3 (UNI) Maharashtra Government today said the 15 paise surcharge collected by Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply Transport (BEST) from commuters as 'nutrition surcharge'was deposited in the consolidated fund.

The money from the Government treasury is then utilised for funding the programmes to provide nutrition benefits for malnourished mothers and children, Minister of State for Finance Dr Sunil Deshmukh said.

The statement came during a discussion on the 'calling attention' notice by Bhai Jagtap (Congress) and others that the amount collected as nutrition surcharge was not being utilised for the same purpose. They demanded that the surcharge be scrapped.

Dr Deshmukh and Women and Child Development Minister Harshvardhan Patil assured the House that a separate head would be created under the state government where the amount collected for the purpose would be spent only on it.

He said Rs 334 crore had been collected from BEST as nutrition surcharge. The government has spent Rs 2,017 crore to provide nutritious food supplements so far, Dr Deshmukh said.

Mr Patil rejected the demand for scrapping the surcharge because malnutrition is also prevalent among urban poor. He said the government has decided to provide Rs 1.98 per head for children between 0-6 years. The Central Government will provide Re one while the State Government will provide 98 paise.

Mr Patil said his department had proposed setting up anganwadis in urban areas with the same criteria of rural areas (one anganwadi for population of 1000).

UNI