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December 15, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Tearful farewell to the lost sentinels New Delhi, December 14 Shots of a14-gun salute reverberated in honour of the policemen who thwarted the designs of the terrorists, before making the supreme sacrifice in a bid to protect the hallowed precincts of Parliament. Vice-President Krishnan Kant, Home Minister L K Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office Vijay Goel, Health Minister C P Thakur, former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma, All India Anti-Terrorist Association President M S Bitta, Delhi BJP President Mange Ram Garg, and other senior police officers observed a two-minute silence as a mark of respect for the departed souls. Placed in wooden coffins and wrapped in the Delhi Police flag, the bodies were handed over to the next of the kin of deceased. The relatives and the friends of the security personnel, who sacrificed their lives serving the nation, battled hard to put up a brave face even as tears rolled down the eyes of many. Later, the bodies were taken to their villages for the last rites. The officials of the Delhi Police accompanied the mortal remains of Assistant Sub-Inspector Nanak Chand to Rathdhana in Haryana’s Sonepat district, ASI driver Ram Pal to Akharpur in Haryana’s Faridabad district, Head Constable Ganshyam to Haripur in Uttar Pradesh and Head Constable Om Prakash to Puthkhurd, Bawana, in Delhi. A post-mortem examination was conducted earlier today on the bodies of seven persons, including six security men, killed in the terrorist strike yesterday, police sources said. The bodies of all the seven – four Delhi policemen, a lady CRPF Head Constable, a Parliament watch-and-ward staffer and an employee of Parliament – were handed over to the relatives for the last rites in their native places. It is also learnt that the Delhi Police have urged the Centre to enhance the ex gratia payment to Rs 7.5 lakh each to the families of the four policemen. Apart from this, the Delhi Police have already announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to each of them. The families will get full salary till the date of superannuation of the slain personnel, the Delhi Police officials said. The Commissioner of Delhi Police, Mr Ajai Raj Sharma, has also announced that one eligible member each from the families will be appointed in the force on compassionate grounds at the earliest, the officials said. Meanwhile, armed policemen were seen patrolling almost every street in the Capital and the deployment was particularly heavy in the congested and commercial areas. “The idea is to instil a sense of confidence among the people who are understandingly shocked.”
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Wiser, Govt deploys Delhi Police at New Secretariat New Delhi, December 14 Armed policemen have since taken up their positions inside the complex that houses the offices of Chief Minister, her Cabinet colleagues and bureaucrats. The deployment of personnel, drawn from the Delhi Armed Police, comes as reinforcement to the private security agency, contracted for securing the building. But for the posse of private guards, the Secretariat had been virtually unguarded so far. A private agency, the Delhi-based Indian Industrial Security Services Private Limited, had bagged the contract when the offices of the Chief Minister and her Cabinet ministers were relocated here. The contract, expired in October, has been extended pending the deployment of Central Industrial Security Force personnel. According to the officials entrusted with the task of overseeing security arrangements, only “designated” vehicles would be allowed inside the New Secretariat. Barring the eight cars of the Chief Minister, her six Cabinet ministers and the chief secretary, no vehicle would be allowed access through the main gate. Furthermore, the entry to the Secretariat will be by identity card only. And instructions have been issued to screen the beacon-equipped vehicles and remove all illegal flash lights atop vehicles. These decisions follow the Chief Minister’s meeting with the top officials for reviewing the security apparatus at the government property in general and vital installations in particular. An in-principle decision to extend security cover to all the ministers of the Government of NCT of Delhi has also been taken. For the first time, all the six ministers would be provided with Y category security cover. Earlier, the security cover was extended only upon request or on the basis of threat perception. The Chief Minister would continue to enjoy Z plus security. |
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Govt
rethink on Martyrdom Day New Delhi, December 14 Delhi Minorities Commission member, Mr N. S. Bhandari, who met the Delhi Chief Minister told NCR Tribune that Ms Dikshit was positive in her response and understood the concerns of the community. Sources in National Capital Territory government said the matter is pending before the state Chief Secretary, Mr P. S. Bhatnagar. The
NCT government had reportedly written a letter to the Lt. Governor, Mr
Vijai Kapoor recently, seeking cancellation of the holiday. |
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Wall of contention on
HUDA green belt Gurgaon, December 14 They are particularly sore with the Haryana Urban Development
Authority (HUDA) over its move to set up a wall across the green belt in front of the sector. HUDA has decided to set up a km-long wall along the sector on the Delhi-Mehrauli Road from the MDI crossing to the Motorola building, for the purpose of providing ‘security’ to the residents. Incidentally, the stretch falls in front of the sector and acts as a window to the area. Though the residents of the sector, one of the early habitation centres of HUDA in Gurgaon, support the decision, yet they feel that the authorities want to rob them of the green belt. The former president of the Residents’ Association and a functionary of the Senior Citizens’ Forum, Gurgaon, Mr Kuldip Singh Yadav, said that HUDA should heed the people’s plea. Inquiries reveal that the residents also intervened when the HUDA personnel tried to dig up the green belt for setting up the wall a few days ago. By and by, most of the residents have made their mark in their respective fields and many of them have also contributed to the implementation of the schemes of the state and Central governments while in service. The residents alleged that HUDA had installed an animal trap device at five places in the sector to prevent the entry of stray pigs and dogs. The devices, each of them, installed at a cost of about Rs 50,000, have stopped functioning. As a result, animals from the nearby areas throng the sector. A few days ago, a bull rammed a car, being driven by a lady. In another incident, a dog bit a resident, taking a stroll in the evening. The residents are also concerned about the shortage of water, especially in the houses falling along the Delhi-Meharauli Road. The areas on Meharauli Road are situated at a higher plane. The water supplied from the main tank takes half an hour to reach these houses and the supply stops half an hour early. Several representations to the authorities have fallen on deaf ears. The sanitation is another troublesome issue. The residents allege that sewerage drains have started choking as they are not cleaned regularly. The pipes have also corroded. Besides, there is no proper disposal of garbage, which remains littered at several places. A majority of the curve channels are also in a dilapidated state. The residents are not happy either with the encroachments by the shopkeepers in the main shopping complex of the sector. They allege that one Om Sweet Shop and many others have encroached on the verandas and pavements. |
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CBI arrests five MCD engineers New Delhi, December 14 The engineers had made payments to the contractors on the basis of fake invoices of the Indian Oil Corporation, Mathura. It is alleged that they had certified on the fake invoice that the supply of bitumen was actually received in their presence by the contractors from IOC whereas the fact is that these consignments were never received. (Bitumen is used for dense carpeting or black topping of roads.) During investigation vehicle numbers mentioned in the fake invoices were found to be open trucks, scooters, tempos and tractors, which could never have been used for transporting bitumen, which is supplied in a liquefied form by the IOC to the contractors’ hot mix plant at Faridabad. |
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IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, December 14 The minister said the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies had been requested to take measures for the winding up of Super Bazar under the provisions of Multi State Cooperative Society Act, 1984. He said the cooperative store had reported that their assets totalled Rs 44.25 crore which includes Rs 22.99 crore of accumulated losses as on March 31. It also had 2,016 employees on its rolls. Meanwhile, the Union Minister for Communication, Mr Pramod Mahajan, informed the Rajya Sabha that no clearance commission was being charged in the Ghaziabad division on the cheques of local banks now. In the past, outstation charges were being levied on the cheques drawn on the local nationalised banks situated at Noida as their clearance house is in Delhi. Consequently, such cheques were being treated as outstation cheques, the minister said, adding that instructions had, however, now been issued to do away with the charging of such commission. There were a total of 170 beneficiaries identified under the Annapoorna scheme in Delhi, the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Mr Ashok Pradhan, informed the Rajya Sabha. The total number of beneficiaries so far identified under the Annapoorna Scheme was 6,00,695. The unemployment rate for rural persons in the National Capital Territory is 4.7 per cent, the Minister of State for Labour, Mr Muni Lall, told the Rajya Sabha. Delhi had the fourth highest unemployment rate among rural persons in the country. Kerala (8.2 per cent), Goa (9.3 per cent) and Lakshadweep (19.4 per cent) preceded the state, the minister said. Mr Lall said a special group had been set up by the Planning Commission to suggest measures to generate one crore employment opportunities during each year of the 10th Five Year Plan. The Food Corporation of India had 12 godowns in the NCT with a capacity of 375.97 tonnes, the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Mr Ashok Pradhan, informed the Rajya Sabha. The FCI had a total of 2,275 godowns, with a total capacity of 35.45 million tonnes. |
Winter of discontent for
power-hit Ghaziabad Ghaziabad, December 14 Industrialists, residents and farmers are reeling under the impact of frequent, torturous and prolonged power cuts. Added to it is the prevailing load shedding of over four hours in the morning when it is needed the most by the people in Ghaziabad. In the posh residential areas of Vaishali, Kaushambi, Rajnagar and Kavinagar, residents are facing power cut in the morning when they get ready for their office. So long are the power cuts that people find their inverters hardly dependable. Other colonies are facing an even worse situation where load-shedding goes on for more than 10 hours a day. The complaints of the residents seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Most of the time, the power officials are not even available to listen to our problem, they added. With power supply available for about six hours only, the farmers in the district have found it difficult to irrigate their crops and undertake other farming activities on time. The industrial scene is even worse with Tariff Regulatory Commission having arbitrarily imposed heavy tariff on industries without giving them a chance to put forth their case. According to local industrialists, “The power corporation has applied the MCG clause on our power connections but the corporation is unable to supply the power regularly. Earlier, the power cuts used to be only for three to four hours but now we have cuts for seven to eight hours.” And the minimum consumption guarantee has been imposed without meeting the planned goal of 24-hour uninterrupted power supply. Moreover, there has been another long-term impact of the frequent power cuts in Ghaziabad. It has adversely affected the proposed wooing of investors to the state in order to improve the industrial scene. Effectively then, the economy of the state is taking a beating in the absence of proper power supply by officials of the power department. Due to the daily power cuts, some industries are thinking of putting up their own captive power plants. Prominent industries like Continental Carbon and Bhushan Steel already have their own power plants in position. But a large number of small scale and cottage industries, which cannot afford to have their own power plants are almost on the verge of closing down their units. Furthermore, the daily power cuts has made the political class nervous, particularly in view of the forthcoming elections. “We are unable to face the public during election time over these important issues. In addition to being an election issue, frequent power cuts do not augur well for the economy of the state,” said a BJP leader.  |
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Sonepat farmers thirst for water Sonepat, December 14 Farmers who are supplied with water by the canals and distributaries falling under the jurisdiction of Rai Water Service Division and Samalkha sub-division have made a number of complaints to the authorities concerned against the non-supply of canal water even during the rotation period. However, no action has so far been taken on the complaints. The Sarpanch of Naya Bans, Khubru and Bhanwar villages and the farmers of Shekhupura, Sayya Khera and other villages have sent a joint complaint to the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, urging him to order a high-level probe into the scandalous working of the executive engineer of the Rai Water Service Division and take stern action against the officials, found responsible for the non-supply of canal water during the rotation period. They also alleged that the farmers were denied supply of canal water on December 3, when the rotation period started. The entire canal network remained dry between November 30 and December 8 and the non-release of canal water affected the sowing operations of the rabi crops. The memorandum alleged that the executive engineer misbehaved with the farmers when they had approached him for voicing their grievances. It demanded an immediate transfer of the official to ensure an impartial inquiry. Meanwhile, the representatives of various farmer organisations have also demanded a vigilance inquiry into the scandalous working of the Rai Water Service Division. In their memorandum, they have highlighted the plight of the farmers who are facing an acute shortage of canal water for the sowing of rabi crops. Consequently, they have also appealed to the Chief Minister to provide relief to them. They alleged that the authorities concerned have failed to redress the grievances of the farmers relating to the scarcity of canal water. |
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Shopping mall on school land? Noida, December 14 Elders of the village say it is “our school as we have given the village land for its construction and it is built with our money and it is our children who are studying here”. The District Magistrate had asked the District Education Officer (DEO) and District Inspector of Schools to constitute an inquiry panel to inquire into the complaint within three days after a delegation of villagers met him. But the principal and Mr K.P. Yadav, manager, had better ideas. They have been allegedly keeping the committee members waiting for the last three days though the District Education Officer had informed them about the panel’s visit. Villagers who have assembled in front of the school are determined not to allow the shops to come up on the premises. “The principal is playing politics. He wants to build shops and take Rs 5 lakh for each shop and then
disappear. He is trying to build eight shops now, but building 100 shops is his target. He should rather attend to the education of the children than building shops,” says Mr Bhanwar Singh, life member of the village panchayat. |
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Heavy penalty awaits polluting units: Board Gurgaon, December 14 Mr Bains was speaking at an interaction meet with the industrialists organised by the Gurgaon Industrial Association here at GIA House yesterday. The Chairman explained that the industries should take permission from the department. Otherwise, the HSPCB would charge the fees with penalty from the back date. The GIA president, Mr J. N. Mangla, requested the Chairman to grant pollution certificate to the industries functioning in non-conforming areas, simplify the rules for the spot issuance of the certificate and form an advisory committee consisting of industrialists. He said that the small units which discharge the water into domestic sewerage in low quantity and units having generator sets up to 50 KVA should be exempted from the purview of the Act. The president further added that the formulation of liquid nature (oral liquid injection) should be exempted as in the case of the formulation of dry nature (tablets and capsules). The manufacturing process of both type of formulation was same as per the Drugs Act, he said. The Chairman, however, rejected all requests on the ground that the State Pollution Control Board is governed by a certain Act which does not allow him to implement these suggestions. However, he promised
maximum relief. |
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SONEPAT THE Central Government has provided as many as 466 new vehicles to Haryana to combat the activities of the dreaded criminals and anti-social elements. This was stated by Mr M. S. Malik, State DGP, while receiving the key of a vehicle, costing Rs 6 lakh, donated by the District Red Cross Society at a function held on the premises of the PWD (B&R) Rest House here Thursday evening. The DGP stated that the Haryana police were equipped with 1,539 vehicles and of these, 436 had been declared unfit for use. The new vehicles given by the Central Government, he said, would be distributed to districts in accordance with the demand. 2
Hurt in assault Some persons armed with lathis and other weapons forced their way into the house of a resident of Ridhao village, about 15 km from here, Mr Ram Chander and assaulted him on Thursday. He was injured seriously in the assault. Later, the assailants went to the field, where other members of Mr Ram Chander’s family were working, and assaulted them too injuring a woman who was rushed to the local civil hospital. She was later shifted to a Delhi hospital. Adulterated
food Resentment prevails among residents here against the sale of adulterated desi ghee and other foodstuffs in the city and other parts of the district. Many people alleged that the authorities of the Health Department had failed to check the adulteration in foodstuffs. |
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SPEAKING
OUT I retired as Accounts Officer on July 31,1978, from the Treasuries and Accounts Organisation of the Himachal Pradesh Government. An application for revision of my pension was sent on September 29,1998. The pension was revised wrongly by the Additional Secretary (Finance)-cum-Director of the T & A Organisation. No action was taken on my representation even after I had to endorse copies to higher authorities. The revised pension as worked out was set aside by the Senior Deputy Accountant-General who advised fixing the national pay and recalculating the revised pension but the Additional Secretary (Finance) has neither revised the pension nor has answered the former’s letter dated November 17,2000, debarring him to issue the revised PPO. I explained the case personally during May 2001. The clarifications received from the Central Department of Pension and
Pensioners' Welfare (during September 2000), from the Pension Department of Himachal (during April and July 2001) and from the Senior DAG (during November 2000) were ignored. The pension is not being revised by the Additional Secretary (Finance) without stating any reason or raising any objection for the past three years. He is perhaps unwilling to do what is right despite advice/orders from the higher authorities, including the Chief Minister, the Governor etc and in total disregard of my advanced age. M.R.Khanna, Faridabad Wake-up call for leather industry
Thank you for informing your readers of the Gucci group’s decision to stop using leather products obtained from unlawfully abused Indian animals (apropos “Gucci says no to Indian leather”, December 7, 2001). The Indian leather industry and government must be asleep at the wheel. They have ignored the cries of the suffering animals and the pleas of Indian citizens who are angry that basic animal protection laws are not being enforced in the transportation of animals and slaughter for decades; but the clear message being sent now by giants like Gucci, Nike, Reebok and others is that they will not tolerate hideous abuse .The government should either wake up or else the leather industry will ‘skin’ itself through inaction. There is no reason whatsoever why the Council for Leather Exports cannot require the transporters and slaughterhouses it uses to stop goading animals in ridiculously high numbers onto lorries, which causes them to suffocate and crush their insides or butchers them unlawfully in full view of their companions or dismembers them alive. Instead, the leather industry even chooses to subsidise many of India’s 32,000 clandestine, unlicensed slaughter facilities through its skin purchases. Consumers these days clearly recognise the connection between the slaughterhouse and leather and are moving toward skin-free wear but at the very least expect leather industries worldwide to ensure that animals are treated in accordance to minimal humane standards in leather production. Gucci has recognised this. If the Indian leather industry wants to save its own `hide’, it must too. To view a complete timeline on PETA’s campaign or to learn more about the plight of Indian animals used for leather, please visit www.PETAIndia.com. Poorva Joshipura, Mumbai
Lack of amenities It is a pity that while on the one hand it is widely advocated that Delhi should be spread across the radius of the National Capital Region in order to ease the metro of all urban ills plaguing the city on the other hand nothing is being done to provide the new residential colonies and complexes coming up in the satellite towns like Gurgaon with essential services like bus and postal service and other civic amenities. This prevents the people from moving to nearby towns. Located in sector 56 is the Aravali View Rail Vihar complex in Gurgaon, which has 440 dwelling units which remain unconnected by bus service irrespective of whether it is the DTC or the Haryana Roadways.This causes a lot of hardship to the residents. The worst affected are the children whose mobility is limited to the four walls in the colony. Another problem being faced by the residents is that even basic postal services like a small post office are not available. Not only that, efforts can also be made to provide milk booths within walking distance of the various upcoming colonies which will encourage the Delhi’ites to move out of the chaotic, congested Delhi and settle in the cleaner and greener environment. Will the authorities look into the woeful lack of civic amenities without any further delay? Meanwhile, the density of traffic near the intersection bifurcating towards the New Delhi railway station is so high that the movement of the pedestrians is badly affected. One can just not cross over to the other side without risking one’s life. While planning the subways in Connaught Circus, no care seems to have been taken for the fact that there is a big Central Railway Hospital too nearby where hundreds of patients stay indoors for whom essential medicines have to be fetched. Obviously, they feel badly handicapped in the absence of a subway. Will the traffic police bigwigs take necessary steps to undertake the construction of a subway without further delay? R.L.Pathak, Gurgaon Threat to SSIs The executive committee of the Laghu Udyog Bharati, Delhi, met on November 27,2001, under the Chairmanship of Mr Ravinder Nath Bansal and expressed its extreme displeasure over the unreasonable demands of the
DSIDC. As many as 52,000 industrialists had applied for relocation, with 10 per cent advance, at the rate of Rs 3,000 per sq mt. The DSIDC had asked the applicants to deposit 20 per cent more, even when the plots were nowhere in sight. After depositing 20 per cent at the rate of Rs 3,000 they were asked to deposit 50 per cent of the total cost at the enhanced rate of Rs 4,200 per sq mt. A neat 50 per cent enhancement. Thereupon, the Laghu Udyog Bharati went to court. The high court gave clear instructions that the plots of applicants shall not be cancelled if 50 per cent payment has been to made. In spite of this order the DSIDC threatened to cancel the allotment if 100 per cent payment was not made by the end of October 2001. A delegation of the Laghu Udyog Bharati met the CMD of DSIDC, Mr Vaidhwan, on October 25,2001, and showed him the order of the high court but to no effect. Mr Ravinder Bansal (MLA), president of the Laghu Udyog Bharati, asked the DSIDC to follow the court order and reply to the petition of the Laghu Udyog Bharati. Mr Madan Lal Gauba, vice-president of the Delhi unit, declared that if this demand of the Laghu Udyog Bharati was not conceded the organisation would be forced to start an agitation to safeguard the interests of the small-scale industries, who are being harassed by the bureaucrats to no end. Jatinder Nath Joshi, New Delhi Good coverage Please accept my heartiest congratulations for NCR Tribune .It is a good pullout being published from Delhi. It has given abundant coverage to the National Capital
Region. I shall feel obliged if you kindly take up the case of traffic jams. I feel it is one of the most crucial problems. All concerned should be educated to sort out this serious problem. Subhash
C.Taneja, Need for bridge Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai laid the foundation stone of a bridge over the Yamuna near Rahimpur village in Faridabad district two decades ago. With the construction of a bridge most of the villages, towns and cities located across the river have been linked with a metalled road to Palwal town, resulting in reducing the circuitous travel in kilometres. Earlier, due to the river being in spate during rains these UP villages remained cut off from Palwal throughout the rainy season, failing which the people across the Yamuna found it very difficult to bring their produce with a view to developing trade and business or to contact respective relatives here. As a result of deficient road service no means of transport like bus, car, scooter, three-wheeler and other modes were available. The people used country carts, donkeys and horses. The bridge and metalled road have made the transport system very effective in carrying of goods towards Palwal to develop trade and social relations. A variety of means of modern transport facilitates easy movement of people, foodstuff and other products to Palwal and other adjoining cities and towns. The road, being narrow, always remains crowded and congested due to heavy traffic. To add to the woes of people every vehicle, pedestrian, cyclist and scooterist has to cross the railway line passing through the road, which mostly remains closed because of frequent movement of fast and slow running trains throughout the day, resulting in serpentine queues on both sides, emitting foul emission to pollute the environment. The closure of the railway crossing gate at Sallagarh, Palwal, for long, at times even half-an-hour, causes harassment and trouble to the people. Hundreds of people gathered courage and pleaded their hardships before the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, on the eve of the foundation laying ceremony of a water treatment plant at Palwal. The Chief Minister, having heard them patiently, was fully convinced and satisfied with the genuine and just demand of building a bridge over the railway crossing at Sallagarh to smoothen the flow of traffic and regulate movement of vehicles on the road. He assured them of taking up their cause with the Union Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, as the problem related to his department. Forced by the harshness of circumstances, the citizens of Palwal and the encompassing area urge the Chief Minister and the Union Railway Minister to initiate measures to build a bridge over the railway crossing to provide relief. Trilok Chand Gupta, Bedi for Kabul? Afghanistan has heartily accepted the offer of India to train its police. What could be better than asking Kiran Bedi to head the team from India? She will, as always, do a great job of it by not only assisting Afghanistan but also bringing laurels to India. Apart from this, her leadership will empower Afghan women who have suffered so much for so long. U.S.Rana, Vasant Vihar |
Thieves decamp with safe Faridabad, December 14 According to police sources, the robbery took place at Shop No-105 of Anaj Mandi and an adjoining shop. Shutters of both the shops were found open on Friday morning. The thieves uprooted the safe built inside the wall and took it away. A case under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC has been booked. |
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JE held for taking bribe Faridabad, December 14 Homage
to soldiers The Sainik Welfare Forum, an ex-servicemen organisation, has decided to organise a function on December 16 here to pay homage to the gallant soldiers of the Indian Army who laid their lives during the ‘Bangladesh Operation’ in 1971. |
Trade body flays luxury tax New Delhi, December 14 “This tax should be immediately withdrawn since its implementation is strictly against the principles of VAT,” said the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), the apex body of business houses based in North India. The chamber said, “While on the one hand, the state is proposing to introduce VAT from April 1, 2002, on the other, it is levying luxury tax as high as 50 per cent on a number of commodities, which cannot be treated as luxuries anymore.” Since the unification of all state taxes is a pre-requisite for the introduction of VAT, all other taxes should be abolished. It was necessary to simplify the tax structure and avoid the cascading effect, it said. The maximum tax rate should not exceed 20 per cent even under the VAT regime. Since the introduction of VAT implied the replacement of the existing multiple layers of state sales tax structure with a single sales tax, the imposition of luxury tax would be a piecemeal measure, the chamber said. The chamber’s study on draft VAT laws of various northern states indicate many anomalies like different procedures and different rates, which will hinder the basic spirit of a common market. The study said the VAT rates should be a two-slab structure. There should be two basic rates and two special rates. Besides the exceptional rates of zero per cent, 1 per cent and 20 per cent for specified items, there should be a 4 per cent rate on declared goods and goods of common use and a revenue neutral rate (RNR) not exceeding 10 per cent on the remaining goods and they should be effective rates instead of floor rates. The study also pointed out that the nomenclature for classification of commodities should be streamlined and rationalised and should be uniform across all states. Stating that there should be unification of all state levies and taxes, the study said most states were not proposing to merge other taxes/local levies like luxury tax, octroi and mandi tax with VAT as was evident from the draft legislation. Unification of taxes was an essential pre-requisite for the introduction of VAT and there should be no other local taxes under the regime. Also, with the introduction of RNR, all other taxes should be abolished, the chamber said, adding that the tax liability should not exceed the maximum rate in a particular slab and no slab higher than 20 per cent. |
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BPL TV sales up in north New Delhi, December 14 |
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