Editor,
I was more relieved than ever at the victory of the Congress Party in the elections to the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly held on November 28, 2018. This memorable Congress victory has come after a lapse of many years after the State in question has been helmed by the Hindutva oriented dispensation which had issued scrupulous food restrictions – abstaining from beef consumption on the Christians, Muslims and other such communities. Indubitably, as a poetic justice, the BJP, in this state, had it coming really! Now, with the installation of the Congress led government in Madhya Pradesh under the leadership of Kamal Nath, I thought that citizens, especially the aforementioned fraternity, could henceforth be at their own volition to pursue their traditional dietary habits, but lo and behold; the so called secular grand old party in Madhya Pradesh has of late invoked the NSA (National Security Act) against its citizens for cow smuggling, for ferrying cows and for cow slaughter. And to add insult to injury, this state government has boasted that such overreaching enforcements would be clamped on the defaulters in future, too.
Thus the State Congress government has per se exposed itself to be no different from the erstwhile saffron government and the infamous Gau rakshaks who with impunity murder people at the slightest clue of having a link with cow/beef context. And it goes without saying that this case in point, exhibits the blatant hypocrisy of many national political parties whose pre-eminent focus is exclusively vote bank politics and where everything else is besides the point. In a word, the Congress government has explicitly proved itself to be old wine in new bottle or, better still new wine in old bottles?
Yours etc
JeromeK.Diengdoh,
Shillong – 2
Ease of information technology?
Editor,
The previous Congress government had initiated a slew of changes to streamline administration and speed up development by introducing e-governance and ICT tools. In fact when the Digital India program was launched all over the country many states leveraged from it and advanced their government functions but here in Meghalaya we suffer from a funny syndrome called the laid-back syndrome. A visit to some department websites will reveal that almost half of their information is either stale, unrelated or not updated. This shows the pathetic work culture in such departments and yet we hear all the big talk of e-governance and ease of doing business. If the state has to excel in the IT sector it has to employ professionals. Many of our young people working in the corporate sector outside our state this will plug the brain drain that is happening currently.
Yours etc…
Dominic S. Wankhar
Shillong-21
Paying Advance Tax
Editor,
Tax payers have been foxed by the financial terms. Financial Year (FY) or Fiscal Year is the year for income earned and Assessment Year (AY) is for income assessed thereby taxes are paid and Income Tax Returns (ITR) filed. Advance Tax is paid before the end of the FY in four deadlines: June 15 (25%), September 15 (50%), December 15 (75%) and March 15 (100%). March 15 is the last day for payment of Advance Tax for the FY 2018-19. Advance Tax applies to all tax payers, salaried, freelancers and businesses. Senior citizens who do not run a business are exempt from paying advance tax.
Individuals whose tax liability is Rs 10,000 or more in a FY have to pay Advance Tax. Generally employer including PDA (Pension Disbursing Agency) deduct the TDS. Interest is applicable on late payment if it is not paid according to schedule. Taxes paid after FY are called Self- Assessment Tax i.e. AY 2019-20 before filing the IT Returns. There is no specific date for paying this tax which should be done by filling a Tax Challan ITNS 280 at specified bank branches or online.
There are tax exemptions under Section 10 or 54 where leave travel allowance, interest from tax-free bonds, or long-term capital gains on equity funds are excluded from the gross total income. For calculating taxes, permissible deductions under Section 80 (80C to 80U) are deducted from gross total income. 4% for education cess and secondary & higher secondary cess is to be added.
Yours etc.
Kamal Baruah
Guwahati