SRINAGAR: Amid growing criticism over imposition of property tax in Jammu and Kashmir, the administration of the Union Territory has sought feedback from the general public over the proposed tax.
In a notice, the Housing and Urban Development has sought suggestions/ comments from the general public over imposition of property tax in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Any suggestions/ comments in this regard are welcome and may be sent to the Housing and Urban Development Department at the email address [email protected] within 10 days,” reads the notice.
The notice states that UT of JK is levying property tax on residential houses/apartments, commercial establishments, within the municipal areas from April 01, 2023 in terms of two notifications issued by the H&UDD on Feb 21.
On February 21, 2023, JK’s Housing and Urban Development Department issued two separate notifications for levying, assessment and collection of property tax in the urban areas of Jammu and Kashmir, where 27% of the UT’s population resides as per the 2011 census figures.
The Jammu and Kashmir Property Tax (Municipal Corporation) Rules, 2023 and the Jammu & Kashmir (Other Municipalities) Rules, 2023, notified by the government, define the procedure for collection of property tax within the limits of municipal corporations, committees and councils in the UT.
As per these rules, property tax is to be 5% of the taxable annual value (TAV) on residential properties and 6% of the taxable annual value on commercial properties.
The rules faced widespread criticism, with political parties including National Conference, Congress, Peoples Conference, and Peoples Democratic Party assailing the move. Even the State BJP distanced itself from the move. (KNO)
Abandoned many times in the recent past, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has started the process of imposing a property tax that is estimated to fetch Rs 150 crore and augment the resources of the urban local bodies. The move triggered a chain reaction, Khalid Bashir Gura reports
Within days after bulldozers halted the high-pitch anti-encroachment drive, Manoj Sinha-led Jammu and Kashmir administration issued property tax notifications on February 21, 2023, triggering another row. However, this is restricted to urban areas where according to the 2011 census, Jammu and Kashmir’s 27 per cent of population lives. The Housing and Urban Development has notified that it will
assess and collect property tax at five per cent of Taxable Annual Value (TAV) for residential properties and six per cent for commercial properties within the jurisdiction of urban local bodies (ULBs) from April 1, 2023.
Unlike the rest of the country, no property tax was ever imposed in Jammu and Kashmir. There were some efforts between 2010 and 2018 but the stiff opposition frustrated the idea.
Months after reading-down Article 370, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in October 2020 allowed the UT administration to impose a property tax. Well before it could trigger a crisis, Lt Governor insisted that “there is no proposal to impose the property tax in Jammu and Kashmir”. In June 2021, the Badami Bagh Cantonment Board (BBCB) started levying property tax in areas under its jurisdiction in Srinagar but it was not collected.
Now, when almost all districts across Jammu and Kashmir have started working on the notification, almost everybody from Kanak Mandi in Jammu to Old Town in Baramulla is seeking the withdrawal of the notification. Being seen as “arbitrary and undemocratic and anti-people,” trade, politics and lawyers have all opposed the idea.
Property Tax
All municipal bodies across the world levy a property tax. It is already in vogue in the rest of India. Officials in Jammu and Kashmir expect to raise Rs 150 crore in 2023-24 and pump the funds into moribund municipal bodies currently managed by people who were “elected” to the office by controversial elections. Interestingly, the municipal corporations in Srinagar and Jammu have rejected the idea insisting the proposal was supposed to be mooted from them.
Officials said the tax collections will enhance the resources of urban local bodies, which have not been able to deliver as the revenue from other sources accounted for less than 15 per cent of their operational expenses. The property tax policy will enable urban local bodies (ULB) to get enhanced central devolutions and improve their services.
The tax will be 5-6 per cent of the taxable annual value (TAV) of the properties, a base calculated on basis of nine variables – the type of municipality, built area, land value in line with the J&K Preparation and Revision of Market Value Guidelines Rules, 2011, as on the first day of the block, the number of floors, usage type, construction type, age of the property, given slab of the area, and the occupancy status. It will be in vogue for three years and will be calculated annually with a 1000 sq ft area exempted from the tax.
As per Act, 10 per cent rebate can be availed by early submission of property tax. A person liable to the property tax shall be liable to give to the officer authorised in this behalf particulars of property and tax due by May 30 financial year and the second instalment of tax shall be furnished by November 30 along with proof of receipt of the first instalment.
All places of worship, cremation and burial grounds stand exempted. No tax will be levied on vacant land not attached to a structure or building; or municipal property. The properties owned by the government of India and the J&K government are also exempted. But a service charge at three per cent of the TAV will be payable in respect of such properties.
According to the notification, in case of failure to pay tax, a penalty of Rs 100 or one per cent will be imposed as the maximum amount shall not exceed Rs 1000. “Failure to file return in due time, unless prevented by sufficient cause, will result in a penalty of Rs 100, or 1 per cent of the tax due, whichever is higher, for every month of default, without prejudice to the interest due for the delay in payment,” it reads.
Land Costs
In the evaluation of the land value, the rates that are fixed under the law for particular areas will be fundamental. Many years back, the government felt a serious requirement of having a basic ceiling for the value of the land resource in urban as well as rural areas. Every few years, the top officials in a district sit and evaluate the costs of land on basis of its real market worth for residential as well as commercial purposes. These costs are basic. Once a property is changing hands, the purchaser has to pay the stamp duty strictly as per the minimum prices set by the committee. This process has improved the stamp duty collections.
The growth of revenue in the stamp duty collection has shown a steep hike of 56.12 per cent as the total collection made has reached Rs 425 crore in 2021-22 against Rs 272.22 crore recorded during 2020-21. It is expected to be better by the end of the current fiscal.
These land rates will now be basic to the evaluation of property tax the same way as it has been for the registration of immovable assets for requirements of stamp duty.
Reactions
The decision triggered a row as political parties opposed the move tooth and nail and have demanded its immediate withdrawal. The common refrain across political classes is that it is untimely and its legitimacy in absence of an elected government is a question mark. They justify the opposition to the idea on basis of the economic downturn after 2019, owing to various factors including Covid19, political instability, inflation, and unemployment.
NC and Congress, now vehemently opposing the move, initiated the bills for the imposition of property tax in 2010 and managed its passage in the erstwhile assembly. A subsequent bill for setting up the property tax board was cleared in 2013. However, the process was binned as the government feared the move will have serious fallout on the electoral prospects in the 2014 Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
“No taxation without representation, why should people in J&K pay state taxes, including the proposed property tax, when we have no say in how our government is run and no say in the decision-making of J&K?” Omar Abdullah, in whose era the bills were initiated, said in a tweet. “We are expected to be mute spectators to all unjust decisions by Raj Bhavan.”
NC’s Jammu president, Ratan Lal Gupta terms the tax as Jaziaand insists the peoples’ paying capacity has dipped to an all-time low. He sees it as the move to “impoverish” and make “lives miserable”. He said for allaying the distress of the people, there should be elections and decisions on property tax will be taken by representatives of the people.
Jammu and Kashmir is without an elected government since 2018 summer – almost 56 months.
Congress president Vikar Rasool sees the tax as an “injustice” for people who are battling high rates of inflation, unemployment and low business due to government policies. It is like an emergency, he added.
“The people of Jammu and Kashmir are being oppressed and are distressed economically and politically. There is terrorism in J&K unlike in the rest of the country. There should be elections and such decisions should be left to elected governments,” Congress spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said. “
It is like a dictatorship procedure. Taxation is not new to Kashmiris as we have been paying taxes in different shapes since Maharajas times. But this time the economy is derailed and the orders come from the top which renders ULBs useless,” added GA Mir, former JKPCC president.
Former Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti said the tax was part of the BJP’s larger agenda of impoverishing the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“These tactics are to keep people of Jammu and Kashmir under never-ending stress and trauma so that they can’t focus towards their genuine demands,” PDP spokesperson Mohit Bhan said. “Imposition of local taxes is the prerogative elected representatives of Municipal Corporation or Panchayats and such arbitrary orders prove the administration has no regard for any institution and they just want to bulldoze everything which comes in their way.” Bhan said the government orders are like earthquakes and floods.
People’s Conference president Sajad Gani Lone alleged the government of perpetrating economic euthanasia. “Property tax in aftermath of -an year lost post-2019, a couple of years lost in Covid is – seems determination to turn every stone that can be turned to ensure economic euthanasia. Governments have pumped billions worldwide to bump start ailing economies,” Lone tweeted. His party colleague Basharat Bukhari regretted that while in the rest of the world, governments are offering packages and creating employment opportunities post-pandemic, it is completely vice versa in Jammu and Kashmir.
Apni Party said the “unprecedented and big decision” should not be taken by LG administration and should ideally be left to an elected government.
“This is a return gift by the BJP to the people, who voted for them,” Harsh Dev, who returned to his Panthers Party said. “It has imposed so many taxes in the past like GST and created inflation in the country as the security situation is adverse, the unemployment in J&K is the highest in the country, and the economy is in shambles.”
Terming the decision as “arbitrary and undemocratic,” CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said levying property tax in the absence of an elected government is quite unconstitutional. “Whatever elected formations exist on the ground, they have to decide. Why are they depriving these ULBs of their own legitimate rights of decision-making? The process of collecting tax and deciding the values of the tax is the sole prerogative of these institutions. How does an officer in Raj Bhavan know the terrain in Habba Kadal,” Tarigami said as he demanded elections in the UT if according to government claims, all is well.
The newly formed Democratic Azad Party (DAP) also voiced its concern about taxation and questioned the timing. There is a need to understand that for the past three decades, the people in Jammu and Kashmir have suffered in every aspect due to militancy, Azad said. This has triggered unemployment and weakened the economic condition. “I can only say that the time is not apt for the move because of the economic conditions of the people here,” he said.
BJP state spokesman Altaf Thakur said that tax is being paid in every city of India. “In J&K it was in vogue during 1962 and 1982 when these regimes were ruling who are vehemently opposing it. However, we are also requesting LG to defer its imposition as the UT has been going through a bad phase due to militancy for the last three decades which weakened UT’s economy,” he said as it is not the right time.
Bar Associations
The political class apart, other sections of society reacted to the development as well. There were protests in certain towns. Normally, the lawyers were the first to come to the streets. The reaction was vocal in Jammu, unlike Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association’s outgoing president MK Bhardwaj asked the administration to withdraw the notification.
Terming it “tax terrorism”, the president asked the administration to stop pursuing “anti-people” policies in Jammu and Kashmir. “Jammu and Kashmir can’t be equated with other UTs or states in the matter of taxations, especially when no facilities of the like are available here,” he said urging the government to raise the economic status of people first. The bar association at Jammu suspended work for a day. “We have an anti-encroachment drive where the people in possession of land for over decades together are deprived of their land,” they said.
Trade followed the lawyers. Newly appointed Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry President, Javid Ahmad Tenga said, the trade body is assessing property tax. However, he said it is not the right time to impose it as people’s financial conditions are not good. Jagmohan Singh Raina, who is also part of the KCCI body said, as central laws are being applied to J&K, the process is being carried out without local consensus.
“We have for long being governed by bureaucrats,” Shakeel Qalander, a former FCIK president said. “They don’t consider the reality on the ground while formulating policies. Even though this property tax is being imposed everywhere, we are an exception as we had to unlike others grapple with turbulences for decades as well natural disasters like floods and pandemic.”
Unlike Kashmir, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Jammu was vocal. “Chamber is of the firm opinion that this order of imposition of property tax should be withdrawn by the government to give a sigh of relief to the people of Jammu and Kashmir”, Chamber President Arun Gupta said. “If the government fails to understand our feeling than we shall have no other option but to go for a bandh call by consulting civil societies, bar association and others”.
Last year, Gupta said the idea of imposing the tax was mooted but the Chamber opposed it and the idea was shelved.
Miffed Mayors
Srinagar’s Mayor, Junaid Azim Mattoo said that the decision was not approved by elected ULBs and thus the SMC will explore ways to contest this ‘arbitrary move’.
“Imposition of Property Tax in J&K is ironically violative of municipal empowerment as this has neither been deliberated upon, nor approved by elected ULBs. While SMC will explore ways to contest this arbitrary move, I am writing to the Hon’ble LG seeking a withdrawal of the SO,” Mattoo tweeted
Similarly, his deputy, Parvaiz Ahmad Qadri urged people not to panic over property tax. “People need to understand that the proposal has to be first passed by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation. We are rejecting it even before its arrival. It won’t get the consent of corporators. People should not panic,” he tweeted.
Qadri said the tax was not implemented since 2000 despite being a law in vogue. “Why do we need to take money from people? If the UT had been developed then we may have asked for taxes but even the basic amenities like sanitation, drainage, and street lights are not even working,” he rued.
Asked that the tax collections are supposed to add to the ULB resources, the deputy mayor said that there is no dearth of funds but bureaucrats lead the resources lapse. “Last year, only 30 per cent of funds could be utilized in the city and the rest lapsed. The files in which we had proposed plans gathered dust till March. They give approval at the eleventh hour when we have no time to meet a deadline,” he claimed.
Unlike his counterparts in Srinagar, the mayor in the winter capital termed it as a reformative move.
Jammu Mayor, Rajinder Sharma said that it has been imposed across the country except for Jammu and Kashmir and local body institutions need their revenue generation resources. “Our grants are linked to this resource. If we do not get property tax, the centre will not fund us liberally. The Centre has funded crores of rupees to each ward, unlike the past. We must now get independent,” Sharma said. “The Property Tax has been imposed by the Administrative Council of the Union Territory and not by the JMC. In a democratic set-up, the Administrative Council has superseded us and they have the power to do so.”
Progressive Taxations
In response to the widespread reaction, Jammu and Kashmir Housing and Urban Development Secretary, H Rajesh Prasad talked to the media in Jammu. He indicated the expected Rs 150 crore collection will improve municipal services. He said the residents were imposed the least tax slabs if compared to the rest of the country.
“Better municipal services are expected to attract more investment and encourage more people to set up businesses in Jammu and Kashmir. Revenue generated from Property Tax will be used to improve infrastructure, build new parks and playgrounds and maintain the already existing facilities which will significantly enhance the services provided by municipal bodies,” Prasad said.
Prasad said that tax rates are notified in such a way that its implications are progressive in nature with minimum implication to small businesses and households as according to him, it is to be levied annually and can be paid in two equal instalments, it will not be burdening common citizens.
A day after issuing the notification, the government said the tax rates were one of the lowest in the country – almost half that of Himachal Pradesh, and one-fourth to one-sixth, overall, of other states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Delhi.
The tax rates are 25 per cent lower in the municipal councils and 50 per cent in municipalities. “Residential property with built-up area up to 1500sftare also discounted ensuring relief from Lower Income Group and Middle Income Group category residential houses. Similarly, small commercial establishments especially shops up to the size of 100sqft and 200sqft are also provided relief with very minimal tax implications,” the spokesman said.
The debate is on. Deputy Commissioners have started the process of implementation of the notification. Some Deputy Commissioners said most of the towns in their jurisdiction will be impacted by the new tax to less than half indicating that Srinagar and Jammu cities will be the major source for Property Tax collections. LG Sinha also reacted. His last statement on the issue was a question: “In Jammu and Kashmir, people pay to use internet data, buy I-phones and play videos; I wonder why there is a hue and cry over the imposition of property tax?”
Post Script
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha spoke on the issue of property tax after fierce reaction against the idea from political class and the business in Jammu and Kashmir.
“This is the lowest property tax rates that are being imposed,” Sinha told reporters on the side-lines of a function at SKICC on February 27, 2023. “It is almost one-tenth of what is in vogue in Shimla, Dehradun and other places.”
Offering statistics, Sinha said there are 5,20,000 residential structures in Jammu and Kashmir’s urban space. Of them, 206000 have a built-up area of 1000 sq ft which are already exempted. In 203600 residential structures which are built above 1000 sq ft but below 1500 sq ft will have to pay Rs 1000 a year. Of these 203600 houses, he said in almost 80 per cent of the structures, the owners will be paying no more than Rs 600 a year.
Sinha said there are 101000 shops across Jammu and Kashmir and 46 per cent of them fall under a 100 sq ft area and will have a minimum of Rs 700 a year. There are only 30000 shops which are spread over less than 2000 sq ft. These will be paying Rs 2000 a year.
“Nearly 75 to 80 percent of the population of JK will be exempted from the Property Tax. Those who are falling under the purview of Property Tax are trying to create chaos and confusion among the common masses”, the Lieutenant Governor reiterated on March 2.
Sinha said the citizens across the country are paying Property Tax. Property Tax proposed for Jammu and Kashmir is one-tenth of Shimla-the capital of neighbouring Himachal Pradesh”, he said and pointed out that on an average Rs 900 to Rs 1000 to be paid annually as Property Tax.
LG said that aim of proposing this tax is to develop the cities of Jammu and Kashmir. “Every year government grants funds worth Rs 900 crores to the urban local bodies of JK. Property Tax will be directly deposited to the concerned urban local bodies for the overall growth and development of the area,” he added.
SRINAGAR: Urging citizens not to fall prey to the misinformation spread on Property Tax, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday said that that nearly 80 percent of the population will be exempted from the tax and those who would be covered under it, would pay it at nominal rates.
“Nearly 75 to 80 percent of the population of JK will be exempted from the Property Tax. Those who are falling under the purview of Property Tax are trying to create chaos and confusion among the common masses”, the Lieutenant Governor said.
LG was speaking to the reporters after inaugurating the GST symposium and tax awareness initiative ‘Kar-Tavya’ at the convention centre Jammu.
Sinha said the citizens across the country are paying Property Tax. Property Tax proposed for Jammu and Kashmir is one-tenth of Shimla-the capital of neighbouring Himachal Pradesh”, he said and pointed out that on an average Rs 900 to Rs 1000 to be paid annually as Property Tax.
Lieutenant Governor said that aim of proposing this Tax is to develop the cities of Jammu and Kashmir as “Engines of Growth”.
“Every year government grants funds worth Rs 900 crores to the urban local bodies of JK. Property Tax will be directly deposited to the concerned urban local bodies for the overall growth and development of the area,” he added.
The Lieutenant Governor appealed to the people to support government’s initiative to develop the towns and cities of Jammu and Kashmir and urged the people not to fall prey to certain vested interests spreading false information and creating misconceptions around anti-encroachment drives, power generation, and property tax.
“No poor will be touched during anti-encroachment drives but no influential encroacher will be spared. The encroached land retrieved by the government will be utilized for the welfare of the common man and schools, colleges, hospitals, and sports facilities will be developed on the retrieved land,” said the Lt Governor.
Maintaining that property tax in Jammu and Kashmir is the lowest as compared to other states, Manoj Sinha said “there are around 5,20,000 houses in the cities of JK and out of these, 2,06,000 houses are less than 1000 sq ft and no tax is being imposed on them.”
There is no tax on 40% of the people living in cities, in rural and religious places. 2,03,600 houses are less than 1500 sq ft and 80% of these households will have to pay less than Rs 600 per annum. This amount is one-tenth of the tax amount being paid in Shimla, Ambala, and Dehradun, the Lt Governor said.
“46,000 out of 1,01,000 shops in city areas are less than 100 sq ft and will have to pay up to Rs 700 per annum. Out of these 46,000 shops, 80% will have to pay a meager Rs 600 per annum/ Rs 50 per month, “he added.
The revenue generated will directly go to the accounts of municipalities and corporations. This step has been taken to make our cities an engine of growth, he added.
SRINAGAR: Days after the government announced levying of property tax in Jammu & Kashmir, the administration on Wednesday said that the Municipal Corporations and Committees have started passing the resolution to adopt the decision and that the transparency system in the Union territory has no comparison with rest of the country.
In an exclusive chat with the news agency KNO, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, V K Bidhuri, said that the Municipal Corporations and committees require resources to run the affairs, but presently these corporations and committees are generating only 10-15 per cent of the revenue and are dependant for rest of the resources. “To ensure better facilities, every municipality requires resources and property tax is the best decision to generate revenue for the wellbeing of the people,” he said.
He added that J&K is the last in the country where the property tax has been imposed, but the government decided to go with a minimum tax. “The rural areas are already out while in urban areas, Agricultural land and other falling under master plan are also exempted,” he said while appealing people not to pay heed to rumours.
“Tax is not being imposed on any individual but it is being levied on a property and people having property on less than 1000 sq ft are already exempted,” he said while replying to a query.
He further said that out of total 5.20 lakh residential houses, 40% among them have been exempted as the properties have come up on less than 1000 sq ft. “The tax amount is different in different areas and districts and is being decided as per the circle rate,” he said.
He also said that after the decision was taken in this regard; the municipalities have started passing the resolution to adopt the decision.
He said that the tax amount will be used only for the developmental purpose in the respective municipalities and added that the tax will have to remain the same for three years and will be reviewed after that as per the circle rate.
The Div Com said that there is no comparison with J&K’s transparency system with any part of the country. “The transparency system in J&K cannot be found anywhere in the country where even the photos of developmental works are being uploaded,” he said.
Asked about a complete shift to online mode, the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, said that the process has already been done and every work is being done through online mode now.
About the smart city project works, he said that the deadline has been squeezed to April and the works are going on at a rapid pace during day as well as night. “The people will face inconvenience, but the works will be completed on April 15 while carpeting and other related things will be done by April 30th,” he said.
Asked about the encroachment drive, he said that retrieving encroached land is their regular activity and the government is responsible for it. “We are duty bound to carry out our encroachment drive for the people. We are re-strategizing it at present, but the poor will not be touched,” he said.
Asked about the completion of installation of smart meters across Kashmir, he said that the process will be completed in next two years. (KNO)
SRINAGAR: Private Schools Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK) has urged the LG led administration to exempt educational institutes from the ambit of property tax.
In a statement, the Association said that the schools have suffered a lot during the last few years and this has plunged the majority of educational institutes into a financially precarious situation.
“Our schools are under huge debt. The inflation has broken the back of our institutes. We cannot go for a major fee hike as we have to consider the financial situation of the parents too. In such conditions when our hands are tied, the imposition of property tax will further burden us”, reads the statement.
The Association said that the imposition of any tax ultimately has to be borne by the end consumer and in case of schools it is the parents. “There are two ways where schools can absorb the shock of any more taxes. In the first case the parents have to bear the burden as the tax component will directly reflect in the fee of children. Secondly if parents are not in a position to pay more, then the school will have to go for cost cutting exercise. Schools will downsize or remove facilities aiming to provide quality education to children,” the spokesperson said. “In all cases it is the society that will suffer.”
The Association said that under the New Education Policy (NEP) schools have to upgrade their facilities. “We have to meet the standards of NEP and for that we need to upgrade. But when we are financially unstable how can we provide quality education to children,” said the Spokesperson.
The Association appealed to the government to reconsider their decision to impose property tax on educational institutes keeping in view its impact on the schools and parents. (GNS)
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said that 40 percent of the J&K population will have to pay no property tax and the remaining 60 per cent have to pay nominal amount between Rs 600 to Rs 1000 maximum amount per annum. He said that tax amount fixed is one-tenth of the tax being paid by Shimla, Ambala and Dehradun.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function at SKICC, LG Manoj Sinha said that in J&K 203,680 households are less than 1500 Sq feet.
“Forty percent people won’t have to pay the tax. Eighty percent of the 2,0,3680 households will have to pay nominal amount of Rs 600 only while rest will have to pay a nominal amount of Rs 1000 as property tax per annum. This amount is one-tenth of the tax amount being paid by Shimla, Ambala and Dehradun,” LG Sinha said.
About the commercial including shops, the LG said that 1,01000 shops are in J&K of which 42 per cent shops are less than 100 sq feet. “These shops will have to pay less than Rs 700 per annum. 76 per cent of the total shops of 11000 shops will have to pay very minimum amount as the property tax,” he said, adding that the amount collected will directly go into the accounts of Municipal Corporations and utilized for the development of the areas where tax will be collected.
“I urge the common people of J&K to come forward and help build a better J&K,” the LG said.
Pertinently, the J&K government announced imposition of property tax in the UT from April 1. The move evoked sharp criticism from the cross section of the society and the political parties, who demanded immediate rollback of the order. (KNO)
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.
SRINAGAR: The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday staged a protest march calling for the reversal of the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s decision to impose property tax in the Union Territory starting on April 1. The new tax rates will be 5% for residential properties and 6% for commercial properties.
Suhail Bukhari, the PDP’s chief spokesperson, and dozens of party members set out on a protest march from the PDP offices near Sher-e-Kashmir Park. The party activists shouted anti-property tax chants and called for its roll-back.
A police presence near the Traffic Headquarters prevented the protesters from continuing their march into the Lal Chowk city centre. They later turned back and dispersed.
Addressing to reporters, Bukhari claimed that the government was attempting to erode the Jammu and Kashmiri people’s purchasing power.
“First, our political freedoms were taken away; next, democracy was buried here; last, the homes of the poor were destroyed and they were subjected to harassment. The property tax is next. In the previous five years, Jammu and Kashmir’s economic position has gotten worse. The industrial sector here is weak, and there is no employment (creation),” he said.
As per the PDP’s chief spokesperson, the government should have held the people’s hands “but instead the BJP government is seeking to deepen the people’s concerns.”
He urged the government to roll back its decision.
SRINAGAR: The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCC&I) has expressed its opposition to the government’s decision to impose property tax in Jammu & Kashmir. In a recent meeting of the Executive Committee, the KCC&I stated that the sentiment of trade, commerce, and industry in the union territory is low, and people are not in a position to bear the burden of paying the property tax at this stage.
The KCC&I believes that Jammu & Kashmir has undergone a long spell of disturbed periods during which time businesses and citizens have suffered and depleted their assets and lifetime savings. While some sectors have shown signs of revival, it is not advisable to burden people with more taxes, especially considering the post-Covid economic scenario.
The KCC&I draw the attention of authorities to the global sentiment of revival and requests them to reconsider imposing property tax, at least until the economic scenario stabilizes. The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir being a landlocked tier 3 state, cannot be compared justifiably with Delhi, Chandigarh, or other UT or states, the KCC&I added.
The KCC&I appeals to the administration to put the notified property tax on hold, and instead consult with stakeholders before making any decision. The KCC&I remind authorities that property tax was levied in the past but had to be withdrawn for obvious reasons.
SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said citizens’ welfare is foremost priority of the government and property tax will ensure financial self-sustainability of cities and improvement of public amenities in the Union Territory.
In a statement LG Manoj Sinha said that our cities must witness rapid development and emerge as engines of growth. “For that financial self-sustainability of cities is necessary. Property tax in J&K will be one of the lowest in the country and will be used for improving public amenities in J&K.”
“Implementation shall be done in consultation with general public. Common citizens’ interests will be protected,” he added.
