As part of the measures to cut down expenditure, the Andhra Pradesh Government may consider cash disbursals to the ration card beneficiaries of Public Distribution System (PDS), according to a recommendation of Andhra Pradesh State Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (APSDRI).
APSDRI has taken up a holistic study of certain policies, schemes, etc., being implemented in the State comparing them with best practices being implemented in other States. It has submitted a detailed note to the Finance Ministry mooting a slew of measures to be taken up by the government to plug the revenue leakages.
After a detailed study, a note has been submitted to the government suggesting to issue cash to the beneficiaries instead of rice, as the subsidy on rice is comparatively higher than the cash offered to the beneficiaries. This will lessen the financial burden on the government exchequer.
Land conversion
A detailed study has been taken up on the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land by comparing the existing converted lands with the present satellite images.
It has been found that most of the lands where constructions were initiated are not found in the government records. Hence, a note has been submitted to the government on ‘NALA conversion” after studying the procedures/policies being followed by certain departments in the State.
A study has been conducted for collecting NALA tax by making an application using superimposition of grid maps of Andhra Pradesh with the help of Andhra Pradesh Satellite Application Centre for real time collection without manual intervention.
State GST
The Directorate had also examined the pole rental charges to be paid by the Discoms as they are offering poles on rent to the local users. It found out that there was non-payment of GST on pole rental charges by Discoms to an extent and shared the information with State GST authorities for realising the same.
It also detected evasion of GST by some Instrument Cluster Manufacturers as well by the sand contractors. Due to evasion of SGST by sand contractors, Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation sustained a significant loss, especially during the previous government from 2019-24.