The Hindu : New Delhi News : Celebrating 150 years of Income Tax

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Saturday, Jul 24, 2010
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New Delhi

Celebrating 150 years of Income Tax

Madhur Tankha

Artists have given their own interpretation of
the role of the Department
Exhibition to travel to other parts of the country

A painting by Apurba Choudhury

NEW DELHI: To commemorate 150 years of its existence, the Income Tax Department is hosting a week-long group exhibition of paintings and sculptures at All-India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) here beginning this Saturday.

During the days of the Raj, a Bill to levy the tax was introduced by the first Finance Member James Wilson and the Governor-General gave his nod on July 24, 1860. During the three centuries, the IT Department has witnessed tremendous changes. Its resource mobilisation has shot up from Rs.1.33 crore in 1860-61 to about Rs.380,000 crore in 2009-10.

As part of the celebrations, the IT Department hosted a two-day art workshop in Kolkata from July 12 to reflect on the positive aspects of resource mobilisation. It was organised by Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Kolkata-I) Gautam Choudhuri. The artists gave their own interpretation of the role of the IT Department.

Artist Sunil Das has drawn a charging bull portraying the surging growth of the country in various fields including the financial sector which has become possible “through the taxes collected by the IT Department”.

Through his painting, Apurba Choudhury has conveyed a message to the citizens to pay their taxes at the right time to lead a tension-free life. Biman Das's paintings depict positive sensibility, peace and prosperity. “This cannot be ensured if the coffer of the government is empty. Here comes the role of the income tax.”

Kamalakhya Ganguli says: “Though my art is not based on the theme of income tax, still I have painted a beehive where the honeybees are collecting honey for the betterment of the entire community as the taxmen collect taxes for the nation.”

Stating that people have misconceptions about the IT Department, Manoj Sarkar says he has come out with an innovative work in which he has compared the working of the IT Department with the Rathyatra of Lord Jagannath who is both feared and loved.

Prasanna Kumar Dash has shown that taxation is an important pillar of any administration. “Though taxation is a vexing issue, I have used colour and motifs to bring out a smile in the process,” he says.

Other artists

Other participating artists include Amitabha Sengupta, Ashit Paul, Sukumar Ghosh, Niranjan Pradhan, Dhiraj Choudhury, Suman Choudhury, Tapan Ghosh, Tarak Garai, Tapan Mitra, Tapas Sarkar, Hem Raj, Nand Katyal and Bratati Mukherjee.

The exhibition will later travel to other parts of the country. The exhibition also displays literary and other artistic works of employees of the IT Department.

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