With the 2019-20 fiscal drawing to a close on March 31, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav urged the Centre to announce relaxation in time for filing tax returns as the country was fighting the deadly novel coronavirus.
“Businessmen, salaried employees and chartered accountants have the burden of the final week of financial year along with that of coronavirus. The government should immediately announce relaxation without any extra fines or charges and also relax rules for filing returns,” Akhilesh said in a tweet on Monday.
The SP chief demanded that the government announce measures to dispel fears of “tax terrorism” on business community and common tax payers.
On coronavirus, Akhilesh said, “We should not only pay heed to the advice of international community of doctors and scientists but should also learn from the mistakes of those countries who grievously suffered from the pandemic through huge loss of lives.”
“The Union government should issue a White Paper to dispel myths and uncertainties over the pandemic dominating the minds of common man. The government should also assure that it is abiding by recommendations of World Health Organisation, like social distancing and isolation for preventing the spread of the virus and make elaborate arrangements accordingly,” the SP chief said.
Reiterating his demand for relief to workers employed in unorganised sector and daily wagers, Akhilesh said that the government should rope in voluntary organisations for providing relief to the poor who were worst affected by the lockdown.
The SP chief further said that in view of the grave situation caused by the corona pandemic, the government must take immediate measures to tone up performance and delivery of public health services and provide more testing kits for the public.
He said that if the lockdown was to be prolonged, then the government must prepare for ensuring availability of essential commodities and prevent black marketing.
The UP government has clamped lockdown in 17 districts — Agra, Lucknow, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Varanasi, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bareilly, Azamgarh, Kanpur, Meerut, Prayagraj, Aligarh, Gorakhpur, Pilibhit, Saharanpur and Jaunpur.
Meanwhile, the birth anniversary of socialist ideologue Ram Manohar Lohia was celebrated in the SP state office here in a simple ceremony on Monday.
Akhilesh garlanded the bust of Lohia and paid tributes to freedom-fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdeo, who were hanged by the British on March 23, 1931.