Bhubaneswar, June 19 -- Senior Congress leader and former union Minister Srikant Jena has urged Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to implement the Supreme Court's landmark ruling on mineral taxation by imposing a 50 percent tax and cess on minerals and mineral-bearing lands and initiating recovery of retrospective dues owed to the state.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister, Jena said nearly two years have passed since the Supreme Court delivered what he described as a historic judgment, yet the Odisha government has not taken any concrete steps toward implementation.
He pointed out that states such as Jharkhand, Karnataka and West Bengal have already begun action to protect their financial interests by moving to utilise the...