North Delhi Municipal Corporation scraps all new taxes

New Delhi: Eyeing possible bypolls in the 20 Assembly constituencies following disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) on Wednesday scrapped all new taxes such as betterment and professional taxes proposed by the municipal commissioner in his budget speech last month.

Presenting the budget proposal in the NDMC House, standing committee chairperson Tilak Raj Kataria said that no new taxes would be introduced and the proposed increase in property tax has also been scrapped.

Despite facing financial crisis, Mr Kataria announced several populist measure such as rebate to women entrepreneurs under 'Start Up India'. "Women entrepreneurs will be encouraged under 'Start Up India' scheme of the Union government. Under this, they will be given rebate of two per cent in property tax and license fees," he added.

In an attempt to woo Poorvanchali voters after the successful BJP Poorvanchal Morcha on Makar Sankranti at Talkatora Stadium, Mr Kataria promised development of more Chhath puja ghats in the NDMC jurisdiction.

According to Mr Kataria, an interactive portal for the purpose of property tax would be introduced soon.

"The portal will allow citizens to login through an UPIC number, Aadhar, name and address or QR code of UPIC card, and know all the details of their property and property tax. The citizens will get alerts about all upcoming amnesty schemes and rebates on their e-mail or mobile phone through this portal," he added.

He also proposed an incentive of five per cent to RWAs for collecting property tax from all properties and depositing the same with the civic body.

To provide better sanitation services, he announced 104 'Jatayu machines' for each ward for sweeping would be made available, night cleaning of all markets would be ensured and rest room in each w8ard would be developed for sanitation workers.

"The municipal corporation spent Rs 3.04 crore in the last financial year to procure resources for the purpose of sanitation. In this financial year, Rs 3.07 crore have been spent so far. Also, 3,330 wheel barrows were procured last year at a cost of Rs 1.42 crore for garbage lifting," he said.

For the purpose of increasing revenue, Mr Kataria proposed night parking charges for buses parked on public land, banquet halls to pay for parking on public land as per capacity and as per bookings of events.

On the health front, Mr Kataria proposed opening one pathology lab in each ward, 100 per cent immunisation of children to protect them against deadly diseases, cashless medical scheme would be launched for corporation employees and launch a campaign to eradicate dengue.

Mr Kataria also proposed that the municipal corporation would identify some walls in its jurisdiction to allow the citizens to paste posters. "Those found sticking posters on walls other than the identified ones, would be strictly punished," he said.