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| Chopper fare reduced but vehicles continue to face tax burden | | Amarnath pilgirmage | | Kunal Shrivatsa
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Apr 9 : Even as Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) has decided to reduce the fare of chopper service between Pahalgam and Panjtarni for the benefit of Amaranth pilgrims, the state government did exactly the opposite and continued with the policy of charging tax from the buses having All India Tourist Permit.
The State Transport department has not shown any courtesy to the Amaranth pilgrims coming via road as their tourist buses would only be allowed to enter the state after paying a prescribed amount of tax at Lakhanpur, the gateway of Jammu Kashmir.
However, the private Light Motor Vehicles have been left out from the ambit of such an entry tax.
The buses of Amaranth pilgrims will have to shell out Rs 2000 for a week while passenger vehicles (heavy vehicles- four wheelers) carrying yatris heading for Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine have to pay an entry tax of Rs 3000 for three days. Interestingly, the buses with not even a single pilgrim in them will also have to dole out a sum of Rs 2000 per day.
Moreover, these buses have to pay an extra amount of Rs 2000 in case the number of days exceed the stipulated time period.
The imposition of tax on the tourist buses was started in 2010 only and this year too there would be no relief for the devotees coming by road.
Last time around the toll on passenger vehicles was opposed bitterly by religious as well as political organisations, which termed it "nothing less than Jazia" and continuation of the decision might again raise the tempers.
Speaking to Early Times, senior BJP leader Prof Chamn Lal Gupta described the tax on the buses of Amarnath Yatris as a conspiracy to lessen the flow of pilgrims viz a viz to make a dent in the earnings of those whose livelihood depend on pilgrimage tourism.
"Bharatiya Janta Party will oppose the tax on pilgrims' buses tooth and nail… It is yet another attempt of those who do not want to see the state to grow and prosper… Our economy is mainly dependent on pilgrimage tourism but such decisions will definitely go against the interests of the state as lakhs of pilgrims performing Mata Vaihno Devi ji and Amarnath ji yatras may avoid coming here," Prof Gupta said
"The imposition of tax will hit pilgrimage tourism badly which is one of the major sources of income of several people in the state…. BJP demands waiving of tax on Amaranth Yatris' buses." he added
Minister for Transport, Qamar Ali Akhoon, however, maintained that this entry tax is one time charges and the government has provided relaxation of some days to the vehicles carrying Amarnath Yatra pilgrims.
"We have exempted the buses of pilgrims to pay taxes at every toll post within the state… The arrangement has the provision that a one time payment would be levied only for a specific time period," Akhoon said
When asked that why the government has not waived off the tax on Amarnath pilgrims' buses, the Minister replied it is already very less in comparison to other states in the country.
"As compared to the tax structure of other states, the tax charged here is very low…. Even pilgrims of our state when perform yatras have to pay entry tax as high as Rs 10,000 in some of the states." the Minister said. |
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