Congress flays govt for imposing taxes

Senior Congress leader Jagbir Singh Brar on Wednesday flayed the state government for imposing heavy taxes in the form of property tax and hike in value added tax.

Terming the government as anti-people, Brar said, "This is just a trailer as the complete film of the government's real anti-people face is still to be released. Some more such harsh steps are expected from the SAD-BJP alliance."

Imposing heavy taxes after the budget was virtually cheating with the people, he said.

Demanding rollback of the fresh taxes, Brar said the Congress would launch an agitation against the state government to expose it in front of public.

"Almost six months have passed since the government took over but not a single promise of welfare has been fulfilled by the ruling alliance," he said.

He said the government had also failed to implement its welfare schemes like Shagun and Atta Dal.

"Instead of considering welfare of the people, the Badal family is more interested in flourishing its transport business by harassing other transporters, including the state-owned Punjab Roadways," he said.

Cong opposes property tax
Former minister and senior Congress leader Santokh Singh Chaudhary flayed the government's decision of imposing property tax in the urban areas of the state.
Chaudhary said on Wednesday that fresh taxes imposed on residential houses and property in urban areas will put more burden on people.

He also condemned the decision of giving option of reemployment for one year to all retiring government employees at the age of 58 years.

Meanwhile, the District Congress Committee (DCC) has also criticised the SAD-BJP government for imposing property tax in the urban areas of the state.

The committee said the state government had betrayed the people of the state who reelected it to power.

President of the District Congress Committee (urban), Arun Walia, and secretary, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Varinder Sharma said the common man will face the brunt of the property tax.

They said under the new tax regime, the houses and plots, irrespective of their area, will be under the ambit of property tax.