‘Toilet tax’ imposed in the morning, revoked hours later comes to haunt Himachal government

Despite the quick rollback, the initial notification had already reached some Municipal Corporation offices before being modified. The issue sparked controversy when the notification was leaked to the media in Dharamshala, leading to widespread speculation and political criticism.

What gave credence to the tax was the water cess imposed by the Sukhu government in rural areas from October 1 under the same notification. The previous BJP government had been giving free water to rural areas but this notification did away with this sop, beginning October 1. CM Sukhu had earlier spoken of how even five-star hotels had been taking advantage of this sop introduced by the outgoing BJP government in the state.

It was at a Cabinet meeting in August that the Cong government decided to  do away with the facility of free water supply in rural areas and charge rural domestic consumers with annual income above Rs 50,000 a cess of Rs 100 per month.

The September 21 notification stated that from  October 1, “all the water connections except rural domestic connections  shall be metered.”

It further added: “The charges for sewerage connections in urban and rural areas (where sewerage facility is available) be levied @ 30 % of water charges.”

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, speaking in New Delhi on Friday, dismissed the claims of a ‘toilet tax’ as baseless, accusing the opposition of using the issue for political gain ahead of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha elections. “The BJP is playing the religion card or raising fabricated issues like this so-called toilet tax. These are unfounded allegations aimed at misleading the public,” Sukhu said.

In a statement, Sukhu further clarified that the previous BJP government had introduced several sops worth Rs 5,000 crore, including free water provision, in a bid to win the 2022 elections. Despite these measures, the Congress was voted to power. Sukhu added that the free water provision was even extended to five-star hotels, and the current government has since rationalized water subsidies, introducing a nominal Rs 100 charge per month in rural areas.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesman Karan Nanda criticised the government, claiming that the notification was only withdrawn after sensing public anger. “The Sukhu government rolled back the notification to avoid backlash, but the Rs 25 charge will likely be imposed through other means,” Nanda said.