Jammu- The Union Territory Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha said on Sunday that every person in Jammu and Kashmir has to play an equally important role to effectively counter the misinformation on property tax and convey the truth and facts to the general public.
“Administration and citizens have a shared responsibility to build an inclusive & developed J&K. It is time for everyone to introspect because rights & duties are two sides of the same coin. We must pay for services wherever necessary so that UT moves faster on the development trajectory,” Sinha said.
He made these remarks after inaugurating new facilities at the Jammu Club here on Sunday. He appreciated 3000 members of the club for working as change agents and the consciousness of the society.
The LG said Amrit Kaal is an opportune occasion to remove all traces of colonial mindset and promote our clubs as a medium for community development and to inspire social change.
“We are working with dedication, commitment and with a people-first approach to transform the life of the common man. Each one of us will have to play an equally important role to effectively counter the misinformation on property tax and convey the truth and facts to the general public,” Sinha said.
He said the society does not progress only because of infrastructure and material comforts, but by discharging responsibilities.
Speaking on Property tax, the LG said that Jammu Kashmir is the last among the states/UTs to introduce the provision of property tax which is the least as compared to other regions.
“Out of 5,20,000 houses in urban areas, 2,06,000 i.e. 40% houses which are less than 1000 sq ft are completely exempted. Minimum tax has been imposed on other houses. We have made such arrangements that out of 5,20,000 houses, 4,09,600 houses (80%) are either be totally exempted or will have to pay less than Rs.1000 as property tax annually. Similarly, out of 1,01,000 shops in urban areas, around 76,000 i.e. 75% shops are such that they will be paying less than Rs 2000 property tax annually and 45% i.e 46,000 shops out of 1,01,000 shops will have to pay less than Rs 700 tax annually,” he said.
“This is a very nominal amount as compared to other cities of the country like Shimla, Ambala, Dehradun,” he added.
The LG said that some people are deliberately trying to spread misinformation and create a false narrative.
“We are ready to consider better suggestions and solutions. We will implement genuine suggestions. In every decision that we have taken so far, the interest of the common man and business community has been paramount,” he said.
“Common man has no issue with property tax. Only some special people are troubled by it, who had gathered fortunes for many generations by hoodwinking the common masses of J&K,” he added.
The LG further observed that we have become the fifth largest economy of the world and under the guidance of the Prime Minister, we are aspiring to become the third largest economy of the world.
Sinha said that the work culture in the administration has been completely overhauled.
“Maximum public services have been made online. We are integrating around 32 services into auto appeal mode and fine will be levied on officials who fail to provide public services in the set timeline,” he said.
“J&K was among the states, registering positive growth during covid. One lakh crore rupees worth highway and road projects are under execution in the UT. Our health infrastructure is better and we are leading in health parameters on the national level. We are the first to launch Universal health insurance coverage of Rs 5 Lakh to all households of the UT, “ he added.
Maintaining that J&K has the best industrial development scheme, the LG said that land banks have been developed across the UT, besides land retrieved during anti-encroachment drives will be used for developing infrastructure of various sectors, he added.
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