In a major poll promise, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said house tax will be abolished and pending dues will be waived if Aam Aadmi Party emerges victorious in the municipal elections.
Calling current house tax structure as "draconian", the AAP chief alleged that it has become a source of widespread corruption for municipal councillors and officers in all three civic bodies where BJP is in power for the last 10 years.
There are an estimated nine lakh property tax payers in the city and about Rs 600 crore in revenue is earned annually by the three civic bodies, according to official sources.
Civic polls, to be held on April 23, are seen as a crucial test of AAP's popularity in the city after its "disappointing" performance in Punjab and Goa Assembly polls. With this poll promise, it is clear that the Aam Aadmi Party, which had a stunning victory in Delhi in 2015, is again banking on populist measures to woo voters.
Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal also promised that within a year of coming to power in the MCDs, the AAP administration would turn around the finances of the loss- making municipal bodies and ensure that their employees get their salaries on or before the seventh of every month.
"As soon as the AAP comes to power in the MCDs with a full majority, we will abolish the collection of house residential tax and waive all pending dues with immediate effect. We are making this promise with full responsibility and after thorough study and planning," the AAP Chief said.
Kejriwal said after coming to power in Delhi, his government kept its promise of halving electricity bills and offering twenty thousand litres of water for free to each family, within one month.
The Chief Minister also promised to make Delhi a modern city if AAP wins the MCD polls.
About abolishing the house tax, he said AAP has worked out the arithmetic and the money to be saved by containing corruption will be utilised to cover the shortfall in revenue.
He said Aam Aadmi Party will soon release its manifesto for the polls where details about various welfare measures will be mentioned.
The AAP chief also clarified that industrial and
commercial house tax will be unchanged. He said on the name of house tax, people are "harassed" and that AAP will end it.
Kejriwal said AAP has checked accounts of MCDs and money could be saved by plugging corruption.
To a question about allegations by political rivals that the AAP always announces freebies ahead of the polls, Kejriwal said, "Before Assembly polls, we had promised to halve power tariff besides making water free.
"We fulfilled all these promises. We are not lying. We are saving from Rs 100 crore to 200 crore in construction of every flyover and spending them on public-welfare schemes. What is wrong in it?"
Kejriwal accused the BJP leaders of "promoting" corruption in all three civic bodies.
"BJP's councillors could be seen travelling on scooters before elections, but are now zooming around in expensive cars. They have now expensive houses because they were indulged in corruption. We will completely eradicate corruption from municipal corporations," he said.
Kejriwal also alleged that MCDs under the BJP are "wasting" money on various projects.
While giving the example of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), he said the civic body had a budget of Rs 3,300 crore, out of which Rs 250-300 crore is collected from house tax.
"Also, out of total Rs 3,300 crore, Rs 1,000 crore is wasted in corruption which we will stop if voted to power in MCD," he said.
Giving further details about the party's manifesto, Kejriwal said after coming to power in MCD, AAP will involve people in several decisions. For example, RWAs will be involved in developing parks in the city, he said.
Talking about his government's initiatives, Kejriwal said that Delhi government has reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) from 12 per cent to five per cent, a first in the country.