Shimla, May 26: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal today said there is no move to slash VAT on petrol to offset the impact of steep rise of Rs 7.50 per litre in the price of petrol.
Interacting with mediapersons on the conclusion of the election campaign for Shimla Muncipal Corporation polls, Dhumal said any decision in this regard would be taken after the Congress-ruled states like Maharashtra, where tax on petrol and diesel were “exorbitantly high”, cut VAT on petroleum products.
He said his government had already lowered the VAT on petrol from 27 to 20 percent and on diesel from 20 to 14 percent and than further to 9.70 percent and UPA should first advise Congress and its allies to cut VAT on petrol.
Dhumal said it was strange that the Centre, which has the biggest kitty of funds collected through direct and indirect taxes, was asking the states, passing through “financial crunch” to take the lead and was not coming forward to give succor to the people.”
Claiming that BJP would wrest the prestigious SMC from Congress this time, Dhumal accused Congress, which controlled SMC for the past 26 years, for the “total mess” in the civic body.
The SMC owed Rs 131 crore as arrears of electricity bills and had no money to pay, he said adding only BJP could bring the Corporation out of debt, he said.
Dismissing as “baseless” the charges of Congress that the BJP government was discriminating against Congress-ruled SMC, Dhumal said the government had released Rs 80 crore during four years while the previous Congress government provided
only Rs 25 crore to the fund-starved civic body.
Dhumal said that last year the department of IPH and State Electricity Board waived off Rs 22.75 crore on account of Rs 16.46 Crore for water supply and Rs 6.29 crore for electricity but during the current fincial year the outstanding amount has mounted to Rs 131 crore.
He said his party proposed to bring about some structural changes in the Corporation to make its functioning smooth and effective.
It would introduce the system of “Prashssan Janata ke Dwar” under which Mayor, Deputy Mayor and officials would go to every ward and listen to and settle the problems of people on the spot.
It would also help in ensuring prompt approval of building plans, he added.
Referring to the statement of Union Minister V.B. Singh that BJP would resort to rigging, Dhumal said his apprehensions clearly indicated Congress was on a “weak turf and was levelling frivolous charges even before the polling”.
Dhumal said plans would be prepared to decongest Shimla town by building satellite townships and the problem of traffic congestion would also be solved.
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