Uttarakhand

• 21 Oct 2023

'Bring a Bill, get Reward' Scheme

why in discussion

On October 19, 2023, Uttarakhand Finance Minister Premchand Aggarwal distributed prizes to the lucky draw winners of the Uttarakhand Tax Department's 'Bring a Bill, get Reward' Scheme’ conducted in the months of April and May.

Key Points:

• In the prize distribution program at the State Tax Headquarters, Finance Minister Premchand Aggarwal distributed smartphones, smart watches and ear pods to 100 winners of the lucky draw.
• With the aim of making consumers aware about collecting GST bills, 'Bring a Bill, get Reward Scheme' is being run from September 1, 2022. So far seven monthly lucky draws have been conducted under the scheme.
• On this occasion, the Finance Minister said that from September 2022 till now 47,134 consumers have been registered in the scheme. 2,10,382 bills were uploaded through these. The total value of purchase of goods in these bills is Rs 82.60 crore. Since April 1 this year, 15,603 consumers have been registered, who have uploaded 1,23,467 bills worth Rs 41.28 crore.
• He informed that the 'Bring Bill and Get Reward Scheme' was ending on March 31, 2023, which the government had extended till November. Mega prizes will also be given after 30th November. Apart from this, there is a system of giving points on every uploaded bill by implementing a customer reward program on every uploaded bill. Those traders will be given rewards under the scheme.

The State is Making 20 Percent of the Medicines in the Country

Why In News?

On October 18, 2023, State Drug Controller of Uttarakhand Tajbar Singh said that Uttarakhand is producing 20 percent of the medicines of the total production in the country. The state is developing as a major hub of the country in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Key Points:

• State Drug Controller Tajbar Singh said that due to the new industrial policy and favorable environment, business is continuously increasing along with investment in the pharmaceutical sector in the state. Uttarakhand's contribution to the total production of medicines in the country is about 20 percent.
• In 2022, the state's pharma sector did a turnover of Rs 15 thousand crores. In this, medicines worth Rs 1150 crore were exported.
• He said that there are 249 drug manufacturing pharma companies in Haridwar, Selaqui and Pantnagar. The effort of the department is to produce high quality medicines in these companies and also to increase the share of medicines of these companies in the country.
• Under the Industrial Policy, industries are allowed online under the Single Window Scheme. The Drug Control Department remains alert to manufacture high quality medicines as per the standards in the state and the quality and standards of medicines are checked from time to time.
• Tajbar Singh said that the sub-zone offices of the Central Drug Standards Organization are established in Uttarakhand. Due to the online licensing process for pharma companies, the complexity of the application has been eliminated. Licenses are issued after joint inspection by the Central and State Governments for the quality of medicines.