BJP leader and social worker of Hazaribagh town Bhaiya Abhimanyu Prasad has demanded action against the private tax collection agency collecting holding tax for the Municipal Corporation in Hazaribagh. Talking to newsmen at his residence Prasad said that the private tax collection agency is looking for its own interest and not for the interest of the state or ruling party, the BJP.
Citing newspaper reports he said that the private agency is getting 16 per cent amount of the tax collected by them and extra 14 per cent as service charge on the 16 per cent amount for which they are entitled as per agreement. The people are annoyed with the unprecedented hike in holding tax and now the staffs of private agency are threatening the denizens that if they will not pay the holding tax amount quarterly then 50 per cent fine will be charged as per government orders.
According to Prasad the denizens of Hazaribagh and other places had protested this hike but no one took it seriously and now the anger has reached to a state which can harm the party and the leaders. When the agitation was at its peak MP Jayant Sinha has assured the denizens that he will talk with CM on this issue but nothing happened. He appealed to both MP and MlA to intervene in this matter and to pursue the government to cancel the agreement.
In a press conference held at his residence Prasad said that the situation is alarming and any day the denizens of Hazaribagh can once again will be in the streets against the private tax collection agency and state government. In Hazaribagh town many old buildings do not have watershed management facility and the agency men are threatening the house owners to install this facility within a month otherwise they will have to pay three times more tax and if they will not pay the tax then their houses and shops will be auctioned.
He said that there was a statement of urban development minister of Jharkhand CP Singh who had ordered the Ranchi Municipal Corporation to not extend the agreement with present tax collecting agency and to not invite further applications for it. He said that since Singh is an MlA of Ranchi so he ordered only for Ranchi but he is also a minister of this department so he should stop all the tax collecting agencies operating in the state taking the anger of the common people seriously.
