Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
With the advent of the summer season, refreshing sugarcane juice stalls start appearing at every intersection in the city. Last year, the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) did not grant permission to any cane juice stall. This year, juice stall operators have started making rounds at the municipal corporation in hopes of getting permission. The civic administration has yet to finalise a policy on this matter. Meanwhile, the guardian minister Sanjay Shirsat has instructed the municipal corporation, through a letter, to grant permission to the juice stall-owners.
The CSMC’s market license section grants permission to cane juice stalls. Last year, the corporation did not grant permission for juice stalls in public places or private areas. In the city, most juice stall operators began selling juice without permission. Taking advantage of the situation, some employees of the section had started demanding "bribes" from the juice stall operators last year.
The administrator, G Sreekanth, had strongly reprimanded the concerned employees. As soon as summer begins, the sweet sounds of jingling anklets are heard at various places every year. More than 200 cane juice stalls start operating in the city and surrounding areas. They begin to appear in areas such as Cidco, Hudco, Jalna Road, Baba Petrol Pump, Railway Station, Bypass, Gajanan Maharaj Mandir Road, etc.
Earnings of Rs 17 lakh in a month
Two years ago, the CSMC had formulated a policy. For cane juice stall operators on private property, a fee of Rs 2,000 was charged, and for stalls on public property, permission was granted based on a ready reckoner rate.
In one month, the civic administration earned a revenue of Rs 17.60 lakh. However, clever employees of the CSMC collected payment for one month's fee only, although the juice stalls operated for four to five months. Hence in the next four months, not a single rupee made it into the municipal corporation’s treasury. In reality, the expected revenue should have been over Rs 1 crore.
Policy finalisation file
As February comes to an end, the CSMC has yet to finalise any policy regarding cane juice stalls. After the letter from the guardian minister, sources have mentioned that a file regarding the matter is being passed from one table to another.