Assam will donate GST earnings from Zubeen Garg’s last film ‘Roi Roi Binale’ to his foundation.

The Assam government will hand over the state’s share of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collected from Zubeen Garg’s upcoming Assamese film ‘Roi Roi Binale’ to a foundation set up by the singer for the welfare of the underprivileged.

Addressing a press conference after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said there is no entertainment tax on films screened in the state and hence there is no question of waiving it as requested by a section of the society.

Sarma said, “The state government will exclusively hand over its share of the GST received from the film to the Kalaguru Artist Foundation for the medical treatment of the artistes, to help the flood victims and to assist the needy students in their educational activities.”

This foundation was established by Garg himself to carry out philanthropic activities.

“There is 18 per cent GST on movie tickets priced above Rs 100 and 5 per cent GST on tickets priced below Rs 100. The state’s share is half of that rate and we will get the money later. Then we will hand it over to the foundation,” Sarma said.

He said the decision was taken after consultation with Garg’s wife, who agreed to the idea.

Speaking about other Cabinet decisions, Sarma said the government has approved Rs 2,205.75 crore as additional financing for the second phase of the Asian Development Bank-assisted ‘Climate Resilient Brahmaputra Integrated Flood and River Erosion Risk Management Project’.

It will be executed through the Flood and River Erosion Management Agency of Assam as the project management unit and the Water Resources Department and Assam Agroforestry Development Board (AADB) as the project implementing units.

“The project will include 76 km of anti-erosion works, 33 km of embankment works and 17.72 km of anti-silt works covering about 13 districts. Together, both the phases involve approximately 250 km of intervention on the banks of the Brahmaputra river, covering about 20 per cent of the river bank within Assam,” he said.

Sarma said that to ensure legal recognition and protection of rights of Moran and Matak communities, the state Cabinet has approved the disposal of hereditary lands of these two groups on the same lines as was done in the case of tribals during Mission Bashundhara 2.0.