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Sent to you by Gerry via Google Reader: Thumbs Down for Re 1 House tax via The Flesh Made Word by Gerard de Souza on 11/20/12 The government’s decision to reduce house tax to a nominal Re 1, rather than bringing cheer to the ‘common man’ as other tax concession schemes of this government have done ~ have been met with indifference, skepticism and even opposition from village residents, panch members and sarpanchas alike. The Peaceful Society’s Centre for Panchayati Raj is the first to question the move, saying it is a clear case of the government intruding upon of the self sufficiency of the local self governing bodies. “There is no clear cut policy and criteria when it comes to distributing grants to panchayats. In 2005 the state budget had set aside some crores of rupees to be spent on development in the 189 panchayats in the state. Fifty five percent of this money was spent in panchayats of the Dhargalim constituency, the constituency of the then panchayat minister,” Soter D’Souza of the Centre for Panchayati Raj said. “Usually the panchayat draws up plans for various development works and submits it to the directorate of panchayats. If he (sarpanch) is good to the minister they get their plans sanctioned fast, else they are kept pending, harassed, etc depending on their political patronage and alignment. This is a trick used by government to get the panchayats on their side. In this eventuality, a panchayat having its own strong fund will help tide over such harassment,” D’Souza said. “Governments have been known to keep panchayat bills pending for two years, paralysing the panchayats, making it to bend to their whims and fancies,” he added. The 73rd amendment to the Constitution gave panchayats considerable self governing powers and autonomy. Until the passage of the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments, the states were the only sub- national units officially recognized by the Indian Constitution. The passing of the 73rd (Panchayats) and 74th (Municipalities) amendments gave panchayats the status of subnational units. “Tomorrow, what if the central government takes away the powers of the states to collect certain taxes and in turn decides to give them grants, will that be acceptable?” D’Souza asks, adding that the states which are ruled by the same party as that of the central government would have been favoured over others, as happens, but because they can collect their own taxes that discrimination is buffered. Edwin Barreto the sarpanch of Cavelossim too has hit out at the government’s move. “What is the reasoning behind the government’s move? Was there a demand from any section of the population? Instead of taking things forward we are regressing,” he said. “Besides the government also needs to clarify on whether people from other parts of the country who own second homes in the state are going to be exempt from this as well?” Barreto said. It may be recalled that the State Level Committee drawing up the Regional Plan had suggested to the previous government that there be a second home tax imposed on people buying homes and not living in them. House tax is the premier source of revenue for many village panchayats especially those located in the interior areas and which have only a few commercial establishments. Coastal panchayats, will not be as affected by the removal of the tax. He said that with the reduction of house tax to just Re 1, people would just not bother about paying the house tax, foregoing their receiptand complicating matters legally. Barreto also raised the issue of how panchayats would know which houses are given on lease and which are used for commercial purposes. “In some colonies there are residential units within commercial complexes. Some residences are used as offices and commercial establishments. Some landlords give their houses on rent. How are we to keep track of all this?” questions Barretto. Official View Director of Panchayats Narayan Sawant said the government would be drawing up a scheme to help reimburse panchayats. “We will be taking the average house tax collection of each panchayat over the last five years and accordingly drawing up a scheme to reimburse the panchayats,” Sawant said. When asked whether the reduction of the tax was infringing on the constitutional status granted to panchayats, Sawant said panchayats continue to be able to levy taxes on commercial establishments and even houses that are being given for rent. “Houses that are leased out will still have to pay tax, besides panchayats can collect other taxes from hotels, shops and other establishments,” Sawant said. He however did not comment on the reasoning behind the government’s decision saying it was announced in the Chief Minister’s budget speech and his department was fulfilling it. When asked whether all houses would have to pay the same tax, irrespective of their size, Sawant replied in the affirmative. Things you can do from here: - Subscribe to The Flesh Made Word using Google Reader - Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites
