BOONI, Nov 5: The officials of the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) Mastuj have started collecting tax from the local traders on the pretext of ‘sweeper service’.
Talking to ChoitralToday, M.Shujauddin, the general secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Upper Chitral, the TMA officials at Booni have started collection the illegal tax from the citizens. He said it was a Ghunda tax and Batha as the officials had no authority to collect such a tax from anyone. He said that the TMA officials had so far extorted thousands of rupees from the traders of Booni bazaar. The JI leader said that the silence of the local administration and the MPA over the illegal tax was questionable.
He pointed out that Chitral was a tax-free zone but the TMA seemed having its own rules and regulations. He said that under the law, the civic agency cannot charge the traders for the sweeper service as the sweepers were paid salaries from the national kitty.
The JI leader demanded that an investigation should be held against the officials who were collecting the illegal tax from the traders. He said that the TMA was allocated development funds in each fiscal year and there should be auditing of the funds each year. He warned that if the TMA continued collecting the extortion from the traders, the issue would be taken up at the higher level.
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This is with reference to the JI General Secretary indictment terming the tax collection as extortion from the traders. It would be better to rationalize the tax collection in the context of Chitral for the municipal services. The first TMO who did some headworks by regularizing the private vehicle terminal (Ada) by collecting taxes for municipals services, bringing the works of planning and construction into a proper channel and using the collected tax for the municipal services just like cleansing, drainage system and disposing of the wastes in the bazaar area.
There is no doubt that Chitral is tax free zone and government gives subsides to the people for relief but the Tehsil Municipal Administration had to generate resources for municipal services, therefore, the TMA collects money from those businessmen who are direct beneficiary of this service and they are the people who by doing business developing conditions for municipal services in bazzar area, hence should pay for this service.