Nothing Short Of Complete Withdrawal Of Property Tax Acceptable: Sadhotra

SRINAGAR: Former minister and senior National Conference leader, Ajay Kumar Sadhotra, has stated that the people of Jammu and Kashmir will not accept anything less than a complete withdrawal of property tax. Sadhotra today wondered over the parallels being drawn by the government between Jammu and Kashmir and other states of the country in a bid to justify its anti-people, illogical and authoritarian decision of levying property tax.

“The desperate attempts of launching a propaganda campaign through media and all its administrative apparatus is a candid admission of the government that it is on defensive in the wake of stiff resistance being given by the people to its unwarranted and provocative decisions, one after another “, Mr Sadhotra said in a statement.

He said the government cannot compare J&K with other states in respect of the civic facilities, which are reduced to the extent of filth all over, especially during the past few years. Instead of upgrading these facilities, the people in the urban and semi-urban areas are being punished by way of paying taxes. He referred to the filth and garbage in the Jammu City– the most thronged pilgrim destination in north India and said the conditions are worse in the areas like Bantalab, Muthi, Ploura, Durga Nagar and similar other localities, which stand testimony to the municipal apathy.

“Irony of the non governance is that instead of going for the course correction those holding the constitutional position are mocking the people by provocative gestures like their purchasing capacities”, he said, hoping that bare minimum sensitivity would be shown by responsible people at the helm. Such tantrums are against civility and good human behaviour, the former minister said.

Mr Sadhotra feared that the decision of imposing the property tax would be extended to the rural area once implemented in the urban pockets. The government is testing the public response as well as patience by imposing unjust decisions on them, he said.

Mr Ajay Sadhotra cautioned the double engine governments against taking policy decisions in J&K, which remain the domain of the democratically elected dispensations. Denying democracy to people is hallmark of the BJP model of governance. This might have worked for some time but can’t work all the time keeping in view democratic ethos of the country. He said the National Conference will fight anti people measures democratically, given its track record of fighting the just cause of all segments of J&K.

Mr Sadhotra recalled the waiving of tax on the rental of the properties in Jammu and Kashmir during the NC government, led by Dr Farooq Abdullah as Chief Minister between ¹996 and 2002, saying this is how people’s governments work in the larger public interest. Politically naive and insensitive BJP should learn lessons from the good governance and work for public welfare, he said. “Nothing short of the complete withdrawal of the property tax will be acceptable to people of J&K”, Mr Sadhotra maintained.