Jakhar seeks emergency session on latest taxes

The leader of the opposition wants the Punjab government to hold an emergency session of the assembly.

The leader of the opposition wants the Punjab government to hold an emergency session of the assembly.

He wants a debate on new taxes and a white paper on the state of economy. "The ruling alliance of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cannot tweak financial procedures to suit political expediency," leader of opposition Sunil Jakhar stated on Wednesday in a press release issued here. "The government has reached the point of fiscal default and now decided to bite the hand that feeds it."

The people of Punjab would have to pay for the maintenance of the rich lifestyle of its ministers and cabinet outsiders who still enjoyed the perks, said Jakhar. "Coming at a time when the general income has shrunk, the sudden tax burden of Rs 1000 crore will crush people," he added. "Property tax will shoot up each year with the value of property."

The Punjab taxpayer was under strain already on account of electricity tariffs and the penalties on industry, said Jakhar. "There is no exemption to the needy, senior citizens, disabled, and widows, who may not have any other tangible source of income than rent."

"The government has increased the retirement age from 58 to 59 because it's short of money to settle the retirement dues of 35,000 employees who will complete service this year," said the Congress leader. "It will keep a equal number of young people unemployed for another year."

The dole of Rs 1000 a month to the unemployed remained a pipe dream, said Jakhar, adding that the government didn't even have plan to provide them with jobs. "The SAD-BJP has embarked on a journey of converting Punjab into a banana state where political oligarchs exploit the income of its people for own benefit and twist laws and procedures to suit their political ends," he stated.

Jakhar said the budget document was rendered waste by the new taxes imposed at will. He accused the regime of cheating urban voters to subsidise the lifestyle of the rich. "The BJP stands exposed with its inability to protect the interests of urban voters," he added.

"Imposing gargantuan taxes on public in closed-door cabinet meetings is not only undemocratic but also a dangerous trend," said the leader of the opposition. "It belittles the importance of the elected Punjab assembly."