TURA, Aug 10: Tura MDC Bernard Marak on Sunday said that Tura was a Sixth Schedule area and that people need not pay property tax, as the Scheduled Tribes are Constitutionally protected from imposition of general regulation and taxes.
“It is Constitutionally not right to impose property tax or any other tax on land holding and ownership of any property in the Sixth Schedule area. Tura like other areas of Garo Hills falls under the Hill provision as all administrative districts are named as “Hills”. The State cannot intrude into the Hill areas and impose tax at will,” he said. adding the notification of the Governor limits the area to a specific Scheduled area.
Claiming that the Congress Government basing on the resolution passed by GHADC in 1974, introduced Municipality in gross violation of Article 243ZC of the Constitution, he said that the “Garo Accord” signed in 2014 should have established Town Committees under Autonomous District Councils which the State Government ignored.
