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Jammu Municipality limits

Sir,

As per Jammu & Kashmir Civil Services (House Rent Allowances) Rules 1992, Jammu U.A (Urban Agglomeration) was declared as B-2 city for the city compensatory allowance constituents of urban agglomeration were Jammu (municipal council/municipality) and out growth areas Nagrota, Satwari, Narwal Bala, Digyana, Khanpur, Kamini, Jammu cant. In the said order for the House Rent Allowance Srinagar U.A was shown B-2 City and U.A as C' class city.

Vide SRO NO-20DT 19.1.1998 amount of CCA was fixed as per class of city and vide SRO NO-52 DT 5.2.1998 for HRA and Jammu city was declared as B-2 in 2/98 by the centre for HRA for central Govt employees and accordingly adopted by the State for implementation.

The limits of the locality within which orders originally were being applied are the named municipality and also include such of the sub-urban municipalities, notified areas or cantonments as are contiguous to the named municipality which have been reflected above.

Presently Jammu UA is a B-2 class city for CCA & HRA but it is not known the increased limits of municipality and the other areas which have been declared as contiguous to the Jammu municipality for drawal of CCA & HRA as number of the provincial and district offices have been shifted from the centre of the city to the places not included in the list issued in the year 1992 and in general such offices needed to be within municipal limit and accordingly action may have been taken but nothing is open for its correct implementation.

Through your leading paper Administrator Municipality Jammu is requested to publish the limits of Jammu municipality and other areas which so far have been declared as contiguous to the Jammu municipality by the Govt as number of changes may have occurred during the last 8 years.

Yours etc...
J K Gupta
94 Kachi Chowni Jammu.

Tax at normal rate

Sir,

I would like to bring some hard facts about the Star Plus' prime time game show KAUN BANEGA CROREPATI (KBC) . It is a dream that dies hard and sells fast. For millions of Indians ''KBC'' has lit up a path that could take them closer to that distant dream. This game show has not only taken the nation by storm but also has created a sense of demorilisation among the people. One can become 'Crorepati' in the course of just one hour and that also in the single evening, by answering easy and sometimes rediculously simple questions. This game show is meant only for those whose TV sets are cable connected and who can afford STD call rates.

But, do you know that how much one would end up with after tax. Well, even though you could win a crore after a question and answer session with Bollywood's superstar of yesteryears Amitabh Bachchan (Big B), the money you would earn be income after all. Definition of ''Income'' under Income Tax Act, 1961 is wide and exhaustive, it is difficult for a person to escape from the levy of tax, once the income is earned. It does not matter whether you earn the money by the sweat of your brow or through a lottery, horse racing or by using general knowledge or intelligence. Under Income Tax Act, chance winnings are fully taxable.

U/S 115 BB of the said Act, earnings from lotteries, crossword puzzles, races including horse races, card games and other games of any sort or gambling of betting, tax is payable at a special rate. The rate at present is fixed at 46 percent (including surcharge).

Income like wining from lottery, horse race, gambling etc do not require any personal skill, knowledge etc while income derived from card games, games like Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), Cricket, football, car rallies etc. require skill, knowledge, expertise. Such type of income which requires skill, knowledge, expertise be taxed at the normal rate of 34.5 percent (If the earning is in excess of 1.5 lakh).

Government by taxing earnings from such activities at higher rates will only give rise to the cases of illegal match fixing, betting and such other activities. It is therefore desirable that games like KBC etc. should be taxed at normal rates and not at special rate.

Yours etc...
Vikas Kant Sharma
Student of Law
President NSUI (Distt Doda)
Kishtwar.

Truths about Sheikh Abdullah

Sir,

This is with reference to Prof Somnath Wakhlu's letter about my article titled ''Truths about Sheikh Abdullah: From the horse's mouth'' (Excelsior Dated Oct. 1,2000) published in the issue dated 6-10-2000 of your esteemed paper.

I have to say the following things in this regard :-

I have not expressed my personal views on various controversial issues referred to in my article but only reproduced the historical accounts given by persons directly involved at the relevant time, and I have left it to the readers to draw from them such conclusious as they may.

There is no question of my ''absolving Sheikh Abdullah from his faults of omission and commission'' and 'laying all the blame on the Government of India'' as Prof. S N Wakhlu has unfairly put it. If anybody can be said to have done so, it is the eminent persons whom I have quoted verbatum.

Prof. S N Wakhlu's observation that I have 'intentionally' been silent about the gross failings of Sheikh Mohd Abdullah' is imaginary and pejorative; for mine was not an article on the successes and failures of Sheikh Abdullah; it was meant merely to shed light on certain specific matters that have agitated the mind of certain people over the years.

Whatever perceptions Mr Wakhlu may have about Sheikh Sahib, I have known him as a sincere and secular Indian patriot who always had at his heart the good of the people of the State and the country of his choice and stood the hardest test of time.

The relieving factor is that Prof Wakhlu has not questioned the veracity of the accounts given in the quotations from S/Shri Mehar Chand Mahajan, Maj General Hira Lal Atal and the editor of the reputed paper Organiser, New Delhi.

and

There is no question of anybody being absolutely right in every thing. Even the greatest of all our leaders, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, have not escaped blame from both friends and foes for their failings on one account or the other. In fact nobody in the world can be said to be infallible in all respects and at all times.

Yours etc...
Teja Singh IAS (Retd)
Exchange Road,
Jammu Tawi.