Income tax revenue 'redundant'; other sources available: Swamy

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today said that revenue mobilisation through income tax has become redundant and it needs to be "scrapped" as there are plenty of other sources to generate funds.
On revenue sources available for the government, the BJP Rajya Sabha member said, "The Supreme Court order on spectrum auction has been a totally new area of resource mobilisation. I think there are many sources in our country for revenue, coal block auction is yet to take place."
"In my opinion the income tax revenue has become redundant and it should be scrapped. Lot of people think it (income tax) is very progressive... I don't know any country which could do that (scrapping income tax)," Swami said at the Digital India Summit organised by IAMAI here today.

On government's digital push, he said the Centre wants to make it for the people to be interactive and thus bring in transparency in governance.
"It is to create a massive public access through digitisation including the Internet, and promotion of e-governance is to deliver the services through electronic system," he said.
Swamy said all schools and universities must have wi-fi and all public places should have hotspots to get the information they want.

Swamy said a strategy is needed to move from the archaic system to broadband-enabled access system. Though India is a soft information technology power, it is nowhere in terms of hardware, he added.

He said the government has envisioned to cover 250 gram panchayats spread across 7 lakh kilometres with broadband in three years as also 4 lakh internet points have to be developed.
He also stressed on the need to innovate and said after a point a country's GDP grows not by mere more capital but through innovations and utilising resources differently.