House likely to witness dissent over issue of House Tax proposal

The proposal for imposition of House Tax is likely to create a ruckus in the meeting of the General House on February 28. The agenda, that was mooted by the nominated councillors, has been opposed by the elected representatives time and again.

The nominated councillors, after a meeting with the UT Administrator Shivraj Patil had mooted the proposal. While it was tabled in the last meeting of the House, due to a ruckus over other issues, the meeting was adjourned. The proposal will now be tabled in the meeting at the end of the month.

House Tax amounting to Rs 1 per sq yard has been proposed. It is further proposed that House Tax should not be more than Rs 1,000 a month. The houses which are less than 10 marlas in area as well as those in colonies and villages will be exempted from paying House Tax.

The UT Administrator also directed Mayor Subhash Chawla for imposition of the tax during a meeting. The Mayor had assured the Administrator that he would take up the issue in the House and apprise the councillors. The decision will be taken by the MC House. There have been repeated reminders from the Administration to the MC for imposing the tax.

The BJP is all set to oppose the imposition of the tax. BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi said that the Administration was also supposed to fulfill certain conditions and provide some facilities as per the agreement of the JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission). However, these have not been provided. Joshi added that property tax on commercial property is already being collected. The demand for imposing property tax on residential property is not justified.

When property tax was imposed on commercial property, it had been stated that the MC would get a grant from the Administration as per the tax collected. This had also not been given. The Administration has meanwhile been contending that if House Tax is not imposed, the grants to the city under JNNURM will be stalled.

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