Due to 4G ban, massive taxes, J&K suffers badly under BJP: Sawhney

DCC(U) president Yogesh Sawhney chairing a meeting in Jammu on Monday.
DCC(U) president Yogesh Sawhney chairing a meeting in Jammu on Monday.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Jan 4: The Congress Party has said that due to ban on 4G internet services, imposition of massive taxes on public through Urban Local Bodies, road/passenger taxes, raising of many Toll Plazas and massive hike in electricity bills, the people of J&K are immensely suffering while local BJP leaders have maintained criminal silence.
In a meeting of District Congress Committee Jammu Urban held here today under the chairmanship of former minister Yogesh Sawhney, PCC gen secy and incharge DCC, Jammu (U), strongly condemned the BJP led administration for causing a majority of problems for Jammu. The District Congress leaders reviewed possible solutions and plans for future undertakings by the Congress party in Jammu.
They discussed various issues about the governance of Jammu region and planned to raise and seek redressal of major issues such as the imposition of user tax on shopkeepers by Municipal authorities, farmers’ issues, continuing ban on 4G internet services in J&K and unfair school charges among others.
Sawhney said that party has decided on continuing with the issues of the farmers, protesting at the Singhu border. It was also decided that the Congress in Jammu will highlight the issue of issuance of high electricity bills, both private and commercial, which put a huge financial burden on the public during the pandemic, in a bid to work out some sort of solution to help people through this.
Another issue that will be taken up by the party in the coming month will be the arbitrary user charges imposed by the Municipal Corporation on shops and shopkeepers, by use of an irregular pick-and-choose system. He said that these charges haven’t been properly worked out and should be reviewed.
Sawhney expressed concerns over long ban on 4G internet service which has hampered the educational process for thousands of students across the UT, as online education is the only viable option in the days of the pandemic.
He criticised that despite the ongoing struggle with online education because of the absence of 4G internet, schools have been demanding full fees from their students, while at the same time, often denying full salaries to its staff and teachers.
Prominent among those who attended included Madan Lal Malanger, Dr Rmakant Khajuria, Sanjeev Panda, Rajender Singh, Rajesh Sharma , Chander Shekhar , Atul Sharma, Anand Gandotra, Manmohan Sharma, Pawan Sharma, Rickey Dalotra, Harjeet Singh and Markes Gill.