TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Congress has condemned the decision of the government to impose a stiff entry tax on non-Goan vehicles and called for its abolition, with its MLA Vishwajit Rane stating that it is not in the interest of common man.
“The party unanimously demands abolition of the entry tax. It is not the need of the hour,” he told a media conference Friday following a discussion of Congressmen on the issue.
The party will submit a memorandum on their decision to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday, he said adding that if the government reduces the tax to a nominal rate, they could rethink their position.
The transporters of neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka have resorted to a strike to protest the government’s decision on imposing entry tax.
Vishwajit stated that the ‘U-turn’ government is anti-people, while also arguing that inflation has already hit the local markets. Taking advantage of this crisis, he said some vendors are creating artificial shortage.
“Essential commodities are being sold at higher rates. There is artificial shortage being created by some although at certain markets there is genuine scarcity,” alleged the Valpoi MLA. Vishwajit suggested that charges could be around Rs 100 per truck and not Rs 1,000 which has been imposed by the government.
He went on to add that Goa is not self sustaining state in agricultural produce and the entry tax might have repercussions on the Goan economy which is already in crisis presently due to mining closure.
“Has the government thought that the two states (Maharashtra and Karnataka) can also impose such tax on Goan vehicles? We are not self sufficient in agriculture. We have to depend on other states,” he said.
“…the water and power tarrif have already been hiked. We are already going through a recession phase.”
The Congressman said that government’s decision is ‘without thinking’ and ‘without planning’. Goa government has started imposing entry tax on vehicles from April 15 onwards, which is expected to buttress the state treasury with Rs 100 crore revenue annually. On the first day itself, the government collected about Rs 2.50 lakh.
