Shimla, Apr 23 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday said the state government will evolve a mechanism to check misuse of transit passes for transportation of minerals.

He issued directions in this regard at a meeting of the Industries department.

The chief minister expressed concern over reports indicating the use of fake transit passes for mineral transportation on multiple occasions, resulting in significant royalty losses to the state exchequer.

“To address this, the state government had earlier introduced Rule 81A, which mandates a deduction of Rs 80 as royalty and Rs 20 as penalty per tonne from the panchayats and other executing agencies undertaking developmental works, in case transit passes are not available. However, the implementation of Rule 81A is currently under stay by the High Court and the matter is scheduled for hearing on April 25,” Sukhu said.

The chief minister instructed the Industries department to explore all possible solutions and alternatives to check the misuse of transit passes to curb royalty losses and ensure timely execution of developmental works.

Representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions also met the chief minister on Tuesday and urged him to address the issue. PTI COR RUK RUK