Economy

FM Sets Priority Agenda For Next Two Months OUR POLICY BUREAU New Delhi, Sept 1  After a smooth passage of the UPA government’s debut Budget, finance minister P Chidambaram has quietly moved to put in place a priority agenda for the next two months on key administrative and policy issues. According to finance ministry officials, Mr Chidambaram met his top officers including finance secretary DC Gupta, expenditure secretary D Swarup and revenue secretary Vineeta Rai on Tuesday to get a first hand account of the progress on the initiatives announced in Budget 2004. The officials said that the minister wanted to ensure speedy implementation of key Budget announcements relating to infrastructure, foreign direct investment, agriculture and restructuring of banks and financial institutions. Campaign Against Tax Arrears The finance ministry will soon hit the print medium with its gentle persuasion tactics targeted at individuals and corporates to make good their undisputed arrear payments. To be spread over eight weeks beginning early October, the campaign would be designed and formulated in-house. No private ad agencies are expected to be roped in, finance ministry sources said. The target audience would be tax assessees who have outstanding undisputed tax arrears of over Rs 1 crore. The finance minister hopes to rake in Rs 15,000 crore, which is almost 20 per cent of the total tax arrears. The print campaign would be the first in a series of steps the ministry intends to take. Making public the names of defaulters and roping in the directorate of investigation are the other steps being contemplated. While the ministry has already formalised the guidelines for viability gap funding for the core sector, it is closely working with the department of telecom, to finalise a Cabinet note on hiking FDI limit in the telecom sector to 74 per cent from 49 per cent now. Besides, Mr Chidambaram is keeping a close watch on inflation which is expected to be checked with the recent fiscal and monetary measures and is personally monitoring the setting up of zonal task forces to be entrusted with the task of realising a tidy sum of Rs 15,000 crore through undisputed tax arrears. The officials said the minister also planned to tone up the administration and perhaps appoint more joint secretary-level officers in the revenue department. The Central Board of Direct Taxes, which has over two dozen sections and just about four joint secretaries, may get a couple of joint secretaries.

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