Traders’ harassment at highways

This is to highlight the reign of terror unleashed by the sales tax authorities on highways in Punjab.

It has become extremely difficult for an entrepreneur to concentrate on the development side of his business. The mobile team of the Sales Tax Department detains trucks and tempos on the highways bringing the onward movement of goods to a grinding halt.

All traders or manufacturers have to suffer great harassment at the hands of the authorities.

It is just impossible for an ordinary trader or industrialist to satisfy the whims of the ETO concerned when he is sitting miles and miles away from his place of work in a different town. Frivolous objections are raised by inspectors and ETOs, and if you satisfy them on one account 10 more questions are raised. At the end the genuine business party gets exhausted, traumatised and financially stripped by law-enforcing agencies either officially or unofficially. In these days of hard-earned peace in Punjab the government must take effective steps to end this terrorism on the roads.

While the government must act with an iron hand on unscrupulous elements in trade and industry, it must launch a concerted drive to educate the genuine people about do’s and dont’s. The Sales Tax Department of the Delhi Government maintains regular touch with traders by inserting advertisements in leading newspapers, informing them of their obligations and duties vis-a-vis the Sales Tax Department.

The Sales Tax Department too should introduce this practice and insert advertisements in leading papers informing the traders about the important do’s and dont’s while despatching goods.

R.S. GALOHTRA
Amritsar

Staff cars: correct step

The governments of Punjab and Haryana have taken an appreciable step by cutting down the expenditure on wastage of petrol by staff cars. The former has done much better in fixing the allowance of various categories of vehicles and latter the pooling of cars for those entitled.

One of the greatest sources of expenditure and wastage of petrol was the free use, rather misuse, of staff cars by those entitled — for taking the officers’ wards to their schools and colleges and back, their spouses to kitty parties and shopping areas, etc.

The other state governments should follow in the footsteps of Punjab and Haryana.

SAKSHI
Panchkula

Woes of SSI units

It is regrettable that a large number of SSI units in Punjab, especially in the border belt, have become NPAs because of the following reasons beyond their control:

1. A decade of terrorism in Punjab and later in Jammu and Kashmir.

2. Mass fleeing of migratory labour with advances.

3. Outflow of funds to other states.

4. Kidnapping of industrialists and taking of ransom from them.

5. Non-cooperation of bankers and their exorbitant rate of .

6. Boycotting of the Punjab market by buyers.

7. The suppliers had no faith in the Punjabis and they would send them raw material for hard cash only.

8. The cost of production increased due to frequent closures occurring because of the disturbances.

9. The total ban on foreigners’ entry into Punjab especially border areas.

Due to these reasons the small-scale industry, which is economically weak, suffered heavily. Yet the brave industrialists continued struggling against all odds. But now the bankers have become unduly harsh to them. The government has rehabilitated terrorists. But the victims of terrorism, the industrialists, have been left high and dry. Instead of helping the SSIs the bankers are dragging them to the Debt Recovery Tribunal. The heroes of the SSI sector deserve a helping hand.

The SSI units want to repay all their loans, but they require the following: time to repay, reduction in interest rates, a realistic assessment and computation of the principal amount, the application of only simple interest as per RBI rules, and the waiving of penal and compound interest.

RAMESH TALWAR
Secretary, Amritsar Industries Association
Amritsar

Unfair to teachers

The Haryana government has introduced a discriminatory pension scheme for teachers of various categories. It has bracketed college teachers with those of government-aided schools with the cut-off date for pension as May 11, 1998. The university teachers have been kept in a separate category with their cut-off date fixed as April 1, 1995.

This is quite contrary to the criteria adopted for practically all other purposes, including their appointment. College teachers are governed by the UGC rules and regulations as is the case with those working in the universities. Why this different criterion in the case of pension?

The Minister looking after the Education portfolio belongs to the BJP. If the teachers who feel discriminated against start thinking that the BJP is biased against them, they will not be unjustified.

MAHESH CHOPRA
Delhi

A clarification

Col RS Bhatia (retd), the writer of a letter published on June 2, appears to have made his remarks on the basis of the write-up “May Queen’s teaching ambitions” May 28.

We would like to clarify that the event “ADC May Queen” at Shimla was held on May 8 though the letter appeared 20 days later. At the time of the event the developments in Kargil, mentioned by the writer, were not even known. We wish the facts were verified before publishing the letter containing the disparaging remarks. There is no insensitivity to the ongoing events in Kargil as alleged in the letter.

Headquarters
Army Training Command
Shimla