news details |
|
|
| Will Rather opt for a tax free budget ? | | | No doubt the ensuing budget session of the state legislature, beginning in Jammu from February 23, is expected to be stormy with the opposition MLAs planning to target the ruling coalition, the main focus of the session would be on the shape, size and ingredients of the annual budget. If the session throws up new challenges and become a scene for intense battle of words between the opposition and the leaders of the ruling alliance it is something usual to the democratic system in Jammu and Kashmir. If anything that concerns people and that may be of great interest and significance for people in the state is the Finance Minister, Abdul Rahim Rather's plan on imposing any fresh taxes or allow people to get the benefit of taxless budget proposals. Rather has had series of debates and discussions with various segments of society including leaders of trade, commerce and industry. Those who met Rather had pleaded for a tax free budget proposals in view of the difficult situation in the state during the last over 21 years. They had informed the Finance Minister that militancy related events had cast a shadow on various sectors including the sectors of agriculture, industry and tourism.
This had created a number of financial problems for people and hence they may not be in a position to pay more in the shape of additional taxes. Rather has been suggested that instead of imposing fresh taxes the Government should initiate strict measures for increasing realisation of tax and power tariff arreas. The Finance Minister had been told that as far as power tariff arrears were concerned several Government departments besides police and paramilitary forces had not cleared arrears to the tune of several hundred crores of rupees. Similarly there was need for all Government departments,including senior bureaucrats and ministers, to abide by the austerity measures that were being set by the Finance Minister. It has been seen that during the last several years Government officers, ministers and departmental heads usually violated the Finance Minister's guidelines on austerity measures. The Finance Minister will be lauded if he eveolves a mechanism which will make it difficult for the senior Government functionaries for diverting funds from one sector to the other and for making it mandatory for the Government departments to ensure that the funds sanctioned for various development projects were utilised properly and on time. Another matter of interest for people is expected to be the level of exchange of threats and counter threats between the treasury benches and the opposition,exposure of malpractices by the ruling coalition ministers and other leaders and roar of voices berating the Government for perpetuating the level of regional discrimination. The opposition has evolved a plan for criticising the Government for non-performance,poor governance and misuse of development funds. The Jammu centric Panthers Party has decided to fire its salvo against the ruling alliance by holding it responsible for enhancing the level of regional discrimination and for playing a fraud with the unemployed youth by introducing contractual employment. MLAs belonging to the Panthers Party and the BJP would also raise the issue of Government's deliberate procrastination on their demand for setting up new delimitation commission. One expects heat in the House with some MLAs voicing amazement over considerable delay in deciding the fate of seven BJP MLAs who have been suspended from the party.It would be a major setback to the democratic practices if the Congress and the National Conference MLAs gang up against the PDP by engineering expulsion of the vocal members from the session on charge of PDP's ability to cause embarrassment to the ruling coalition. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
