Journalism of Courage
WITH the state government replacing octroi collection system with the local body tax (LBT) for civic bodies,the PMC has been struggling to meet the needs of civic infrastructure. This led to a slowdown in taking up new projects,given the uncertainty in revenue collection that came with the new system.
Octroi was the largest revenue source for the PMC,followed by property tax and building permission fee. However,there were many loopholes in the system with traders taking advantage of it and evading tax allegedly with the help of local politicians and civic staff. Many miscreants were also active in enabling traders to get their goods in the city without paying tax at the octroi post,which led to revenue loss to the civic body.
The state governments decision to replace octroi with LBT was aimed at ending the illegal practices and bring traders in the tax ambit by making them submit details of their business. Initially,the decision did not go down well with the traders; they took to the streets and closed down markets. The protests extended to other parts of the state as traders claimed they might face harassment from civic officials,who had the power of checking their account books.
To get things on track,the state changed the provisions in LBT rules and held back powers of checking accounts with the state government officers instead of the local civic body while revising the rates. For effective implementation,the PMC also revamped the system by bringing in civic staff from other departments for implementing LBT and transferring the octroi staff to other civic departments.
On the basis of the half yearly budget review,the civic administration expects 25 per cent deficit in revenue collection and has been compelled to focus only on completing ongoing development projects instead of starting new ones. The budget estimate for the financial year has been Rs 4,167 crore,but the PMC could manage revenue collection of Rs 1,500 crore due to poor collection from LBT.
The civic administration has geared up to increase the revenue collection from LBT and has been getting permission from state government for checking account books of traders. This has led to increase in collection,which reached Rs 859 crore by November-end, said Joint Municipal Commissioner Vilas Kanade. The target of LBT collection is Rs 1,700 crore for the financial year ending March.
The elected representatives should ensure that the civic budget should not be inflated and be within the limits for implementation. Only a practical approach would ensure effective development, said Deputy CM Ajit Pawar at a meeting of corporators of ruling NCP in the PMC.
POLITICS
The fast-changing political situation in the run-up to general elections next year had its impact on the city politics. To please the disgruntled,the city witnessed change of mayor and deputy mayor before the completion of tenure. The ruling NCP replaced Vaishali Bankar and appointed Chanchala Kodre for the post for one year of the two-and-a-half-year term. This made the Congress bring in Bandu Gaikwad in place of Deepak Mankar to the post of deputy mayor.
