Bhopal: Promises are made to be broken, goes the adage and the civic body here is following it in letter and spirit. The Bhopal Municipal Corporation has forgotten to felicitate the residents who were promised to be rewarded for paying advance tax between April and August 2017.
Though there is nothing surprising in the civic authorities breaking its promises but in the wake of the fact that the BMC has been rewarded for fetching the top slot in terms of property tax collection across the state this year, the authoritirs forgetting the people who made it possible is unbecoming. The BMC was felicitated for its achievement by department of urban administration.
In a bid to encourage the people to pay their dues, the BMC had promised that the denizens who deposit their advance tax between April and August in the financial year 2017-18 will be felicitated and rewarded. It had come out with advertisement informing that winners will be selected through a lottery. The prizes include electronic gadgets items like Laptop, two-wheeler, LED televisions and smart phones.
However, it turned out to be hollow promises and despite the fact that the BMC earned the distinction of colleting highest tax this year in the state, the tax payers are still waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. Member of mayor-in-council (MIC) Shankar Makoriya when contacted said that the proposal was finalised on the instructions of Mayor by the then additional commissioner MPS Arora and now since has been transferred, the proposal has got stuck in files only.
MPS Arora said that it was a nice move to reward the taxpayers to encourage the people to deposit the taxes on time but since I have been transferred, I can’t say why the proposal is confined in the in files. Additional commissioner of finance in the BMC PK Shrivastav said that he has not received any instructions in this regard.