Punjab levies 200/month development tax on pensioners, to make 72cr annually; draws Oppn flak

Now, when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is cutting at the corners and trying to mop up resources, it has cleared the levy on the pensioners. The tax would be deducted from the pension of this month onwards.

Punjab’s Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Partap Singh Bajwa hit out at the government for levying the tax. Bajwa said that after increasing VAT on petrol and diesel for the second time and enhancing electricity rates, the Koh-I-Noor of Punjab (Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann) has now given the pensioners of Punjab a new gift.

“After failing to raise Rs 20,000 crore in revenue from sand mining and Rs 34,000 crore by ending corruption as promised by the AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP government in Punjab is attempting to raise the revenue by fleecing the old pensioners of the state”, Bajwa added. The opposition leader said that there are lakhs of pensioners in the state, who will get affected by such a harsh order of the AAP government.

“AAP government under the Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann has done nothing to streamline the deteriorated fiscal health of Punjab, consequently, the state has reached the verge to witness an economic slowdown”, Bajwa added. Bajwa said that the routine activities of the state are being run on borrowed money.

A few weeks back the AAP government decided to auction at least 175 properties owned by the Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board, also known as the Punjab Mandi Board to ease financial stress. “Clearly, the AAP has no sustainable roadmap to revive the economic condition of Punjab. And now it has been putting an extra burden on the senior citizens”, Bajwa added.

After the controversy on the development tax erupted, Malvinder Singh Kang, chief spokesperson of AAP said that the development tax on pensioners was not levied by the AAP government but by the previous government. In a tweet, He said, “Bajwa Sahab this Development Tax which is infact akin to a leech feasting upon the lifeblood of honest income tax payers engaged in Professions, Trades & Govt Jobs,was imposed by the then infamous’ Khazana Khali Hai’ minister in Congress Govt @MSBADAL ,in 2018.”

“Kindly refrain from peddling false information as The Punjab Govt under the aegis of CM @BhagwantMann Saab neither proposed nor imposed such regressive Development Tax on our people,” said Kang.
A functionary of the government on anonymity said that this was not imposed by the incumbent government. But the Finance Department had reacted to a clarification sought by a department on whether the pensioners were to be levied the tax.

Meanwhile, after the controversy on levying of development tax, Malvinder Singh Kang, chief spokesperson of AAP, said that the development tax on pensioners was not levied by the AAP government but by the previous government. In a tweet, He said, “Bajwa Sahab this Development Tax which is infact akin to a leech feasting upon the lifeblood of honest income tax payers engaged in Professions, Trades & Govt Jobs, was imposed by the then infamous’ Khazana Khali Hai’ minister in Congress Govt @MSBADAL ,in 2018.”

“Kindly refrain from peddling false information as The Punjab Govt under the aegis of CM @BhagwantMann Saab neither proposed nor imposed such regressive Development Tax on our people,” said Kang.

A functionary of the government on anonymity said that this was not imposed by the incumbent government. But the Finance Department had reacted to a clarification sought by a department on whether the pensioners were to be levied the tax.