New Delhi: The Delhi Assembly on Monday
passed a motion seeking withdrawal of notices issued by MCD
for recovery of house tax from residents of Delhi`s 1,639
unauthorised colonies, with legislators of the ruling Congress
strongly criticising the BJP for politicising the issue.
Functioning in the absence of Opposition BJP, whose
MLAs have been expelled for 3 sittings, the Assembly
passed the motion in this regard moved by MLA Mukesh Sharma.
The motion said the house should ensure that no house
or property tax be levied on residents of 1,639 unauthorised
colonies of Delhi and on the original owners of the property
and their heirs in the 365 rural and urban villages who are
putting their property for their personal use.
The Congress MLAs also blasted the BJP councillors in
the MCD for "politicising the issue and misleading the people
of rural areas" that the tax was being sought by the Delhi
government, when in fact the move was that of the MCD.
"This issue concerns as many as 40 lakh people of
Delhi. The proposal to impose house tax on them was passed by
the MCD in 2001. In fact, it was the Delhi government which
had stopped the tax from being levied," said legislator Mukesh
Sharma.
"We will not tolerate this move. The MCD says it is
facing crunch of funds to justify the move, but this is due to
high level of corruption in their ranks," Sharma charged.
Other MLAs too criticised the move to issue notices
for the recovery of house tax from the unauthorised colonies
and urban villages.
MLA Karan Singh accused the BJP leaders of
"misleading" the people of the colonies by telling them that
the tax is being imposed by the Delhi government when in fact
the notices have been issued by their own proposal.
MLA Naseeb Singh said the inhabitants of the colonies
are the people whose agricultural lands were acquired by the
DDA and they should not be further tormented by imposing
property taxes on them.
"In the absence of other employment avenues, they are
earning living by renting out rooms. Asking them for property
tax will lead to a grave situation," he said.
He termed the MCD as the only "blot" on the governance
in Delhi, demanding that the civic agency by dissolved.
The Assembly functioned today without the opposition,
and in the absence of many of the Congress benchers as well.
In fact, a major part of the proceedings were held without the
quorum of 23 members.
The Assembly also passed three bills today, including
the The Court Fee (Amendment) Bill, 2010, The Delhi Prevention
of Touting and Malpractices Against Tourists Bill, 2010 and
The Delhi Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2010.
PTI
