Transporters blink first Team GS Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has definitely won round one in the tussle with transporters from Maharashtra and Karnataka over the entry tax, which came into force at the two borders on April 15.
Over the last ten days, Goa's supply of vegetables and other essential goods suffered shortages and prices were hiked (though prices do shoot up this time of the year) while Parrikar and the transporters were involved in an eyeball to eyeball confrontation while the Congress and United Goans Democratic Party looked on gleefully. It looked as if an impasse had been reached because Parrikar stuck to his guns, even lamenting that Goa's opposition parties were not solidly behind him in revenue generation and expressing outrage that a bunch of transporters were dictating economic policy to his government. Sensing his obstinacy, transporters and even some chambers of commerce in the neighbouring states backed off making flimsy excuses. The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) now says it has deferred the strike, which it began on April 20, till May 8 when the counting for the May 5 Karnataka Assembly elections begins. Trucks loaded with essential commodities have already started crossing into Goa. As face savers go, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI) from Karnataka and Maharashtra, which met Parrikar on Tuesday, had a better and in fact, even a placatory one. Agreeing that it was Goa's right to impose an entry tax on National Highway 17 and 17B and 4A, they however pleaded for a concession. Parrikar was in turn generous saying, "We have assured them (the chambers) that we will give the transporters a concession. We will work it out within seven days." Whether he will acquiesce to their proposals; that passes be issued to vehicles entering Goa regularly; that the concession should be 75 per cent for trucks carrying essentials and 50 per cent for trucks carrying industrial raw material; that they should have a separate lane to avoid delays and also that the current time frame of four hours (to enter & exit Goa) be increased to six; remains to be seen. Cashing in on the measure Trucks have to pay Rs 500, cars and other four wheelers Rs 250, autorickshaws Rs 100 and heavy vehicles have to pay Rs 1000 to enter Goa. Parrikar said that the collection at the toll booths in the first five days was on an average Rs 8,00,000 a day. Significantly, this did not include entry tax on vehicles from the neighbouring districts of Kolhapur, Belgaum, Sindhudurg and Karwar which were exempted from the tax; he pointed out to emphasize that the issue was being blown out of proportion by vested interests. Congress MLAs had urged him in the ongoing Goa Assembly to roll back the tax. He shot back, "The decision of the government to impose entry tax was clearly mentioned in last year's budget as it was meant to be a measure to recover money that was lost after the Rs 11 per litre reduction in the price of petrol". He also said, "As far as Goa is concerned, the decision is constitutionally legal and my government has taken it only after taking proper legal advice." It had become a prickly issue with Parrikar because the widely-held perception was that Goa was dependent on neighbouring states for its essential goods. He indicated that a tit for tat approach was not beyond him when he said neighbouring states, "should not forget that vehicles carrying fuels to these states pass through Goa". In fact the official memo referred to the touchy subject but only to mollify, "While Goa depends on neighbouring districts for almost all of its essential commodities,we also need the business from Goa for our survival." It added, "We have shared a long, cordial and mutually beneficial relationship with each other and we should do all that is possible to keep this relationship intact," acknowledging that it was a symbiotic relationship between Goa on the one hand and Karnataka and Maharastra on the other. While Parrikar won this bout on the governance parameter, victory was his even on the political front. In response to Congress MLAs urging withdrawal of the entry tax, South Goa district BJP president and Sanguem MLA Subhash Phaldesai had this to say, "It is not right for some Congress MLAs to oppose the tax. The entry tax is not going to the BJP. It is going to the state." Full story at: http://www.goanspirit.com/index.php/lion-roars/105-hotnews/260-transporters-blink-first ~Avelino
