Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has adopted Narendra Modi’s slogan of minimum government and maximum governance in a different way.  His government has decided to do away with licence raj.

 It has constituted a two-member committee headed by finance secretary SN Sahai to review the licences needed for different activities and suggest revocation of unnecessary licences.  The other member is Vasanth Kumar N, secretary (IT). Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has said that the committee has been asked to submit its report by July 31.

"Getting licences for anything was a huge problem till now. It was a long and arduous system with multiple windows. We would like to encourage people to start businesses without having to deal with a corrupt system. In fact, we feel that many of the licences may not be required at all. Therefore, we have constituted a committee that will review all licences and submit a report by July 31. Our aim is to end licence raj in Delhi," Sisodia said.

In some cases, the annual renewal may be done away with and only an annual fee be paid.

This will put a stop to yearly hassle of making rounds of the government offices to seek renewal after furnishing various kinds of no objection certificates.

Meanwhile, the AAP government has decided not to hike the excise duty for the current financial year. The decision was taken today at the cabinet meeting presided by Kejriwal during which a new excise policy was also approved containing several new points, including one prescribing a minor increase in licence fees.

The government has also decided to do away with the present renewal system of excise licences for hotels, clubs and restaurants.

"The government will do away with the present renewal system of excise licences for hotels, clubs and restaurants. Merely upon payment of a prescribed annual fee, the licences will be allowed to continue.

"From this year onwards, only if any adverse report is received from other departments and on non-payment of fees/ violation of licence terms and conditions, would the licencee be proceeded against by the department," an official said.

The government, however, has decided to increase the fee for licences in different categories, including for pub and bar licences, from around 20 to 30 per cent.

The Delhi government also approved an education scheme under which loans of up to '10 lakh will be provided to students pursing higher education in Delhi.

Under the higher education credit guarantee scheme, students would be provided loans without any collateral or third party guarantee or margin money. There would be no processing charges.

Students pursuing any skill development course or diploma or degree course after finishing the qualifying examination from any school and educational institution in Delhi are eligible for the scheme. The scheme will also be applicable for ITIs and polytechnic colleges.