Cong walks out of House over property tax hike issue

Opposition Congress today walked out of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly demanding roll back of "unreasonable" hike in property tax imposed by the BJP government across all civic bodies in the state.
Raising the issue during the Question Hour, senior Congress MLA and state unit chief of the party, Bhupesh Baghel asked the specific percentage of hike in the tax. He also sought to know the basis on which the tax was increased.
In his reply, Urban Administration Minister Amar Agrawal said civic bodies were issued directives to revise property taxes under section 162 of the Chhattisgarh Municipalities Act 1961 and under section 133-B of the Chhattisgarh Municipal Corporation Act 1956.

"The target was set to achieve 50 per cent rise in revenue through property taxes of municipalities. The move to increase property tax was taken to improve the economic condition of municipal corporations," he said.
The minister said people would have to pay 50 per cent more in property tax than what they used to pay last year.
However, Baghel said the government has suddenly made a hefty hike in the taxes without taking consent from people, which he said would add to the woes of the common man.

Joining him, Leader of Opposition T S Singhdeo demanded a 45-minute discussion on the issue, saying the matter is public interest.

Meanwhile, Baghel demanded revocation, said, "A hike of 5 per cent or 10 per cent is considerable, but any unprecedented increase should not be made," he said.
Congress members then staged a walkout while shouting slogansdemanding withdrawal of the hike.