The Pioneer 25.10.2010
MCD rejects proposal for village property taxParvaiz Sultan | New Delhi
People living in rural and urbanised villages will continue to enjoy exemption from property tax. Following a stiff resistance from deliberative wing of Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the proposal for imposition of property tax in those areas has been rejected.
Councillors of the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress party, mostly belonging to rural areas, vehemently opposed the proposal of the civic body for levying property tax in rural and urban villages. While creating a din in recent standing committee meeting in Town Hall on the issue, they said such property tax in such a region will not be accepted under any circumstances.
Justifying exemption, they added people living villages require more space to keep their animals and to store fodder; space is also needed to keep agricultural equipment and tractors.
It was also stated if such benefit is not given to them, will be injustice to the people having limited sources of income.
The resistance from deliberative wing came as a shocker for executive wing because the amendment bill passed by the Delhi assembly for total exemption from payment of property tax to any vacant land or building included in rural or urbanised village occupied for residential purpose by any original owner and legal heir had already been rejected by the President of India earlier. However the president was agreed to grant immunity to those having a piece of land measuring upto 200 square metres.
During the meeting, Vijay Pandit (Palam), Vijay Pandey (Rohini), Chaudhary Mehak Singh (Bhajanpura, Jai Bhagwan Yadav (Begumpur)—all from BJP including Deputy Chairman Standing Committee Sarita Chuadhary and Leader of Opposition Jai Kishan Sharma asked Chairman Standing Committee Yogender Chandolia not to pass the proposal and pressurized him to send it back.
“People in living villages have meager income; they are left with small piece of land because their large chunk of land has already been acquired by the Government. Then what is the meaning of imposing tax on them, how will they pay. Therefore we opposed the proposal, if it is brought again in the house, we will contest there also,” said Pandit. Congress leader Sharma also favoured the rejection of the move and said since this is the only source of their income, residential self-occupied properties or properties occupied by legal heirs in village abadi be totally exempted from property tax.
On the other hand, a senior official of MCD it will certainly have adverse affect over the revenue collection of the civic body. “Most of the farm houses are constructed in rural and urbanised villages. If total exemption is allowed, the MCD revenue will be adversely affected,” said he.
