So, what's the big idea of the entry tax Pushpa Iyengar Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Ramakrishna Dhavalikar told the Legislative Assembly last week that the government is determined to tax non-Goa vehicles entering the state from April 15.
But there seems to be a slip between the cup and the lip. On April 10, Goanspirit counted well over two dozen bars and liquor shops, not to mention a petrol bunk in the 21 km distance between the Goa excise check post and the spanking new toll booth in village panchayat Dhargal, strangely the first one in the second panchayat as you enter Goa from Maharashtra on NH 17. This toll booth - which has the legend in the form of a huge board that informs you of the different tariffs - definitely defeats the purpose if you want to check petrol and liquor smuggling. Those who come from Mahrashtra to get liquored up are hardly going to venture beyond the toll booth to say cheers when they can get to the bars and liquor shops dotting this 21 km stretch and drink at Goa's enviable low prices. The minister said that the government is going to offer a deaf ear to all the noises emanating, particularly from the Canacona side of the border by Karnataka politicians with that state due to go for elections on May 5. He buttressed Goa's argument - the state hopes to collect Rs 50 crore annually from this measure - that different places in Karnataka (Chikodi, a town nestled among hills in the Belgaum district of Karnataka, bordering Goa) collect taxes from vehicles, so why not Goa. One estimate puts the number of vehicles coming from Karnataka at 3,000 and from Maharashtra at 5,000. That apart, any person coming to Goa with cars, utility vehicles even, continue to live here for years without re-registering their vehicles in Goa. Moolah for the coffers The commercial taxes department, which has a big hole now that there is no revenue from mining which used to fetch Goa about Rs 1,000 crore, had received several complaints about petrol smuggling from Goa and was trying to find a way to tax those who were indulging in it. Petrol which is cheaper in Maharastra and Karnataka earlier became even cheaper (by Rs 11) after CM Manohar Parrikar reduced VAT to the statutory 0.1 per last year. But at least at Dhargal, they can forget any hopes of increasing the cash in their coffers because there is a petrol bunk on the highway between the check post and the toll booth. So vehicles can fill up their tanks and drive away richer and none would be wiser in the Goa government. Dhavalikar's logic is flawed when he says, "If any of us has to go to Shirdi, and there are many of us who go to Shirdi including MLAs, the toll is about Rs 400, to travel to Bangalore via Belgaum the toll is about Rs 600. In Bangalore, you have to pay a fee to enter the Tipu Sultan palace, the garden, and other places. But here, there is no toll/fee anywhere and yet after entering you get to see good beaches, museums and other places of historical importance." Entry fee to museums, gardens and palaces don't justify levying a tax to enter Goa because tourists have to pay to see some sights. For instance, in the stately Braganza house in Chandor, you have to give a 'donation' of Rs 150. Again some of the heritage temples do encourage you to buy a brochure. It's another matter that the Goa government does not get its fair share from this because it has no policy. Besides nowhere in India, whether Chennai which has the longest beach in Marina, Pondicherry which has a beautiful promenade or Vizag does one have to pay to go to the beach. However, what is true about Dhavalikar's justification is that Goa has good roads even in villages whereas most states have no roads in rural areas and roughly asphalted ones in district towns. But then again, tourist areas stand out in the country because roads are well-maintained and that's a part of the tourism policy to attract sight-seers. "The revenue that we earn will be used for maintaining Goa's roads," the minister said. But cynics don't buy this. Now, let us say that you were from another planet and therefore did not know this simple fact, that the PWD is the cash cow for politicians. Churchill Alemao, if you remember was his predecessor and you know what happened. Point is also, CM Manohar Parrikar who assumes this paragon of virtue halo must explain to us aam aadmi why the toll booth was so strategically located that it will help so many bars and liquor wholesale shops. Seriously, when you put a toll booth so deep in to Goa who are you trying to serve? http://www.goanspirit.com/index.php/lion-roars/105-hotnews/248-so-what-s-the-big-idea-of-the-entry-tax-so-what-s-the-big-idea-on-the-entry-tax ~Avelino
