EC to initiate measures to augment revenue collection
SHILLONG: Expressing concern over prevailing financial crisis the Council is facing, the KHADC CEM Adelbert Nongrum has said that the EC will shortly initiate some measures to increase revenue collection besides putting in place some mechanisms to plug fund leakage.
Replying to the general discussion on the vote-on-account on the third day of KHADC’s budget session on Wednesday, the CEM said that he would soon lead a joint delegation to meet the State Government on the status of the share of the Council on the royalties of coal.
“We will examine on the possibilities if the Council can collect taxes from the advertisement hoardings. We will also examine if the Council can ask the various banks to pay taxes for installing the ATMs within its jurisdiction,” KHADC CEM said.
Earlier, the MDCs, cutting across party lines, expressed serious concern over the prevailing financial crisis in the Council and blamed NGT ban on coal mining for this.
Participating in the discussion, the senior Congress MDC from Mawsynram Pynshngaiñ N Syiem said that the present fund crisis is the result of NGT ban on coal mining. “We are all aware that the Autonomous District Councils are the worst sufferer due to this ban since the major chunk of the fund of the Council comes from the royalties of coal,” Syiem, who is also the former CEM, said.
He urged the EC to adopt some new policy to bail the Council out from the present situation.
Laitumkhrah MDC Antonio War suggested that the Council should initiate the exercise of collecting revenues from the advertising hoarding which are erected in the various areas under the Council.
He also urged the EC to closely follow up on the 1/8 share which the Council is supposed to get from the various taxes collected by the Himas and Raids.
Sohra Congress MDC Donevan Wanlang urged the EC to take measures to check revenue leakages in the collection of the professional tax.
He also suggested that the Council should set up a weighbridge at Majai in Shella to collect taxes from the trucks transporting limestone to Bangladesh.