India’s commitment to reforms is evident from the width and scale of reforms undertaken at pan- India level since 2014 under the visionary leadership of Honorable Prime Minister. This has been reflected in the meteoric rise of India’s rank in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report from 142nd in 2014 to 63rd in 2019.
In an attempt to assist the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan into a reality, the next generation of reforms relating to minimizing regulatory burden on businesses and citizens are being taken up by Central Ministries and States/UTs on a mission mode. Making Government to Business and Government to Citizen interfaces online, transparent and time bound are among the key priorities of the Government of India.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry has been directed by Cabinet Secretary to act as the nodal department for coordinating the exercise of minimizing regulatory compliance burden for citizens and businesses, for which a systematic exercise across Central Ministries/Departments and States/UTs is being undertaken by DPIIT to eliminate/reduce compliances which have an adverse impact on time and cost of businesses.
A major initiative in this regard has been the launch of Regulatory Compliance Portal by DPIIT on 1st January 2021. The objective of this portal is to act as a bridge between citizens, industries and the Government in order to minimize burdensome compliances.
It will also act as a first-of-its-kind central online repository of all Central and State-level compliances.
All Central Ministries/Departments and States/UTs are expected to review laws/regulations/rules under their purview and implement an Action Plan to rationalize and simplify all the processes and remove burdensome compliances, decriminalize laws and repeal redundant Acts. These details would be captured and tracked on the Regulatory Compliance Portal. Industry stakeholders from Trade bodies would also be able to submit compliances and proposed recommendations. This will be assessed by concerned Government authorities and suitable action would be undertaken to minimize the regulatory compliance burden.
Performance of activities on this portal would be closely reviewed by the senior Government officers. Cabinet Secretary would have real-time comprehensive view of all compliances and status of all requests raised across Central Ministries/Departments and States/UTs. Customized reports of action taken by each Ministry/Department and State/UT also gets generated for monitoring and evaluation.
The Regulatory Compliance Portal will be instrumental in achieving the vision of a truly Atmanirbhar Bharat and help usher ease of doing business for industry and ease of living for Indian citizens.
DPIIT had organized 21 training sessions from 04.01.2021 to 14.01.2021 for all ministries and states to familiarize them with Regulatory Compliance Portal. Additional 12 training sessions are also underway from 18.01.2021 to 23.01.21. These training sessions involve detailed information about submitting details in Regulatory Compliance Portal by respective Nodal Officers in Central Ministries and States.
Let us hope that the Crop Care & Protection Industry seeks benefits under such an initiative to realise the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat call of our Hon’ble PM Modi Ji.