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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has urged the Central Government to withdraw the steep hike in user fee on fireworks levied by the Commerce Ministry and demanded that the authorities prevent unregulated import of Chinese fireworks.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she said both these issues threaten the livelihood of domestic fireworks industry. Particularly, Tamil Nadu supplies 80 per cent of the fireworks and lakhs of families are dependent on the industry.
The entire industry is on an indefinite strike from April 9.
The Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, issued a ‘User Fee Notice (Explosives)’ on March 20, 2014, hiking the rates.
The explosives storage licence fee has been increased from a flat fee of ₹15,000 a year to ₹4 lakh for storage of two lakh kilogrammes of fireworks. The fee for renewal of foreman (competency) licence has been increased from ₹100 to ₹3,000.
The fireworks industry is justified in demanding a separate set of rules to govern fireworks as distinct from high explosives.
“This issue requires to be urgently and sensitively dealt with. I am very surprised that the Government of India went ahead with issuing such a sensitive, policy order after the date for the announcement of Parliamentary elections. Not only is this an act bereft of any understanding of the etiquette of Parliamentary democracy, it also constitutes a violation of the Model Code of Conduct,” Jayalalithaa said in the letter.
Smuggling of Chinese fireworks
The Customs authorities should also prevent smuggling of Chinese fireworks which are more unsafe because they use cheaper raw material, chlorate, which is banned in India.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had written to all State Governments on October 17, 2013 (D.O.No. V-11026/98/2012-Arms) highlighting the danger of smuggled Chinese fireworks containing potassium chlorate and the need to deal strictly with persons found in possession of such fireworks.
However, the inclusion of fees for licensing import of Class 7 explosives, which are fireworks, in the User Fee Notice (Explosives) has raised a serious apprehension that Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation, which has so far not granted any import licences, would in fact facilitate easier imports of fireworks.
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