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MCD criticised for `unjustified taxes'

Staff Reporter

Unnecessarily burdening Delhiites: BJP

NEW DELHI: Accusing Municipal Commissioner A.K. Nigam of secretly introducing tax proposals in his Budget speech for the next financial year, senior Bharatiya Janata Party Councillor Vijender Gupta on Thursday said the Congress leadership in the Delhi Government as well as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was levying unjustified taxes and putting an unnecessary financial burden on the people of Delhi.

Initiating the Budget debate at the MCD Standing Committee meeting, Mr. Gupta said that the MCD, as directed by the Delhi Government, had already imposed a 1 per cent cess on the construction cost of new buildings worth above Rs.10 lakhs, and now it had proposed an increase in property tax for all categories from next financial year. "On the one hand the Congress is claiming that no new taxes are being imposed on citizens, on the other it has not opposed Mr. Nigam's proposal of increasing taxes," charged Mr. Gupta.

Lambasting the civic body administration for miserably failing in meeting property tax targets, Mr. Gupta criticised Mr. Nigam for not having been able to start online collection of property tax to make the entire process hassle-free. The MCD has also not been able to prepare computerised data of all taxable properties in the Capital despite having spent crores of rupees on computerisation and e-governance.

The senior BJP Councillor said nothing concrete had been done to curb the menace of stray cattle, dogs and monkeys despite having spent crores of rupees on it. Similarly, a heritage cell was constituted to preserve historic buildings. Last year and during the current financial year, a provision of Rs.2 crores for each year was made, but last year not a single rupee was spent and this year till now only Rs.20 lakhs had been spent. "Such discrepancies can be found in the functioning of other departments also," he alleged.

`Failures'

Highlighting other "failures", Mr. Gupta said the MCD had prepared a Rs.10-lakh plan to open nursery classes in the colonies of safai karamcharies, but not a single rupee was spent, while against a provision of Rs.4.5 crores made for horticultural works and development of green areas, only Rs.45.46 lakhs had been spent so far. He also criticised Mr. Nigam for providing just Rs.4 lakhs in his Budget estimates for construction of community halls despite announcing that the MCD would construct 30-40 community halls every year.

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