SHILLONG, Nov 28: State BJP vice president and Tura MDC, Bernard Marak, has accused the state government of trying to steal money from the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs).
“State (government) is trying to steal money from the district council from this trading for non-tribal taxes as from (Rs) 1,000 they have raised up to (Rs) 10,000 in some cases and this huge jump is only to benefit the state because the state is going to get 40-50 per cent out of it and it has been secretly moduled by the former secretary,” said Bernard Marak on Sunday.
Stating that the problem is that Meghalaya is a Sixth Schedule area, and the state is running its administration over these areas, the Tura MDC said, “The state cannot collect tax directly from the people they are banking on district council and recently we had objected the proposed amendment for trading for non-tribal TNT and I did a walk-out too”. “I have been objecting to it but forcefully they have attempted to pass this bill they did not consult the public and they are pressing the bill now,” he added.
He questioned how the government could collect taxes for the past two years allegedly without any legal and constitutional sanctions or approval from the Governor. “They have been collecting the taxes, how can this be? So, the state is in such a state that they are stealing money from district councils,” the BJP vice president added.
