CM Jagan: Use technology to boost revenue generation

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has advised officials to take advantage of state-of-the-art technology in matters of policy implementation in the revenue-generating departments.

“This would improve efficiency and render improvised services in full transparency to the taxpayers,” the Chief Minister stressed at a review meeting he held on revenue generating departments on Friday.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said modern technology can reduce human involvement in policy implementation. Officials must conduct a study on the most-effective use of technology and submit a detailed report in the next review, he said.

The CM asked the officials to prevent use of drugs and narcotics distribution among the youths and conduct mock drills every 15 days across districts on drug prevention. Hoardings must be put up at universities, colleges and educational institutions to spread awareness against use of narcotics.

The Chief Minister also asked senior officials to check the evil of corruption in the registrations, town planning departments, mandal offices and gram ward secretariats. This goal can be achieved by ensuring maximum transparency in providing public services. All departments should improve their functioning by the next review, he said.

Jagan Mohan Reddy stressed the need to display the contact phone numbers of responsible officials at all mandal, town planning, stamps and registrations offices and village and ward Secretariats vis-à-vis providing all civic services to the people in a transparent manner.

Officials of the anti-corruption bureau should be actively and promptly responding to complaints from the people, he stressed.

The CM said AP is better-placed than Karnataka and Maharashtra in tax-collection, showing a growth of 25.29 per cent. Officials told Jagan Mohan Reddy that the state has achieved the target of 93.24 per cent in tax collections, at ₹ 51,481 crore the last fiscal. The state has fixed a target to collect ₹ 60,191 crore in the present fiscal.

 Officials said targets are being reached by use of data analytics and automation as also coordination between various revenue generating departments while keeping an eye on tax-evaders.

The revenue earned by the AP stamps and registrations department rose to ₹ 8,071 crore in 2022-23 from ₹ 4,725 crore in 2018-19. The mines and geology department has earned a revenue of  ₹ 4,756 crore, exceeding the target of ₹  4,500 crore in 2022-23, and recording a growth of 26 per cent compared to the last fiscal, officials said.

Transport officials told the CM that the department has registered a revenue of ₹ 4,294.12crore, reaching a 95.42 per cent target in 2022-23 while the target for the present fiscal is ₹ 6,999.42 crore.

Deputy chief minister Narayana Swamy, energy and forest minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy, revenue minister Dharmana Prasada Rao, special chief secretaries Rajat Bhargava, Neerabh Prasad, principal secretaries Gopalakrishna Dwivedi, Syamala Rao, Harish Gupta and transport secretary Pradyumna were present.