Hek meets Rijiju over tax headquarters shift

SHILLONG: Pynthorumkhrah MLA A L Hek called on Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju in New Delhi on Thursday to urge him to maintain status quo on the proposed shifting of Chief Commissioner’s Office, Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax from Shillong to Guwahati.
The MLA along with a delegation also submitted a memorandum to the officer on Special Duty (OSD) of the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who was out of station.
The delegation also submitted a memorandum to the two Lok Sabha MPs from Meghalaya, Vincent Pala and Conrad Sangma.
During the meeting, all the leaders agreed that the matter will be taken up with the Centre.
Hek, in the memorandum submitted to the Union Minister, said that with the co-operation of the Meghalaya Government, a 15 acre plot was acquired for the office of the Chief Commissioner, Shillong Zone, at Mawdiangdiang in New Shillong Township in 2015.
He added that the move to shift the establishment would aggravate the problems of officers and staff in Shillong while recalling that similar attempts were made in 2000 that led to agitation by staff and the State Government had to intervene to stop the shifting of office.