Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 23: Political parties in Jammu continued to reject the Government’s proposed move of collecting the property tax in the municipal areas from April this year.
In a statement, the All Parties United Morcha (APUM) strongly opposed the imposition of property tax bill in the UT. The APUM leaders, including Sheikh Abdul Rehman, ex-MP; Ravinder Sharma, ex-MLC, Rattan Lal Gupta, Varinder Singh Sonu, Narinder Singh Khalsa and others, expressed their concern over the daily issuance of “anti-people” orders by the bureaucratic regime, causing great suffering to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
The APUM demanded the restoration of statehood with dignity, honour and democratic rights, and the holding of assembly elections at the earliest.
They have also demanded the withdrawal of notifications related to land eviction and property taxes, and the immediate resolution of the problems faced by various employee categories such as PM package employees, Jammu-based employees of reserved categories, daily wagers of all departments, Anganwadi workers, Asha workers, mid-day meal workers of schools, NHM employees, and the Kissan community.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Manish Sahni also demanded the immediate withdrawal of the decision to impose property tax in Jammu and Kashmir.
He led a team of Shiv Sainiks to Raj Bhawan Jammu to hand over a memorandum to LG Manoj Sinha, stating therein that the property tax is an economic exploitation of the people and as such the decision in this regard should be taken back immediately.
He also demanded restoration of statehood at the earliest.
Congress Seva Dal President Vijay Sharma Babbi also opposed the decision to impose property tax on the residents of the city.
In a statement, he stated that people in Jammu and Kashmir are already facing a lot of hardships in view of the rising prices of petrol, diesel, and other commodities, and imposing property tax on them will add to their miseries.
He said the COVID pandemic has also shattered the people financially and hence, issuing such orders is highly unjustified. He demanded immediate rollback of the order on property tax.
Congress Corporator Pritam Singh, flanked by other corporators, also held a press conference at the JMC office to oppose the property tax set to be collected from April.
Singh requested the Government to reconsider the implementation of the Property Tax Bill.
Dwarka Choudhary, the other corporator, said that he had raised the issue in the JMC and that the Mayor had assured that the bill wouldn’t be implemented.
“Even after his assurance, the bill is being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir,” he regretted.
Rachpal Singh also opposed the implementation of the bill.
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