Andhra Pradesh Assembly passes Gaming Amendment Bill

AMARAVATI: The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed the AP Gaming (Amendment) Bill 2020 and the Andhra Pradesh Municipal Laws (Second Amendment) Bill 2020 by voice vote.

The Assembly also passed three Bills to give a major push to the aquaculture sector that contributes over Rs 50,660 crore to the state’s economy every year.

The AP Fish Feed (Quality Control) Bill, the AP Aquaculture Seed (Quality Control) Amendment Bill and the Andhra Pradesh Fisheries University Bill 2020 were passed by voice vote amid protests by the opposition Telugu Desam Party.

Speaking on the Gaming Amendment Bill, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said some youngsters committed suicide in recent days after they were pushed into debts due to online gaming.

Home Minister M Sucharita said the AP Gaming Act, 1974 was being amended to bring online gaming into its purview.

Municipal Administration Minister B Satyanarayana said as part of the reforms suggested by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the relevant state laws were being amended to switch over property tax levy from the present annual rental value system to capital value based system.

The new system would fetch the state over Rs 120 crore as additional revenue on property tax in urban local bodies.

The aqua sector Bills had provisions for setting up a regulatory mechanism to ensure quality of fish feed and seed to prevent farmers from incurring losses due to spurious feed, according to Fisheries Minister S Appala Raju.

Source: Press Trust of India