Capt Amarinder threatens Water Treaties Abrogation-like action against agri-tax
Sunday, 28/04/2013
http://punjabnewsline.com/news/Capt-Amarinder-threatens-Water-Treaties-Abrogation_like-action-against-agri_tax.html
CHANDIGARH: Adopting a tough posture against the imposition of wealth tax on agriculture land across the country, former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today said that he will ensure that it is withdrawn come what may.
He said, he will be meeting the Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the Finance Minister P Chidambaram to press for the withdrawal of this tax, which, he said, simply amounts to exaction reminding of the medieval periods.
“Punjab Congress has always watched the interests of the farming community and it will continue to do so now and in the future as well”, Capt Amarinder said in a strongly worded statement here today.
The former Chief Minister asserted that like in the past when his government enacted the Water Sharing Treaties Abrogation Act to save the waters of Punjab farmers, he was ready to go to a greater extent this time to ensure that the 1 per cent wealth tax imposed on the agriculture land within 8 km municipal limits is withdrawn.
Capt Amarinder said, farmers across the country in general and Punjab in particular were reeling under severe economic crisis and this tax will devastate them. He said, the Punjab farmers in particular, who have ensured food security for the entire country need special incentives. “They deserved to be rewarded and not penalised (with the tax)”, he remarked.
He maintained that the land holdings over the years have come down and the agriculture was no longer a profitable proposition and still the farmers were feeding the country. “Under such circumstances imposing tax on farmers will be disastrous”, he remarked, while adding, it is unfortunate that when the farming community needs incentives due to rising input costs it has been penalised and slapped with 1 per cent tax.
At the same time Capt Amarinder had a dig at Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for trying to derive political mileage out of it.
He pointed out, this is a countrywide problem as the tax has been imposed across India and not in Punjab alone as Mr Badal was trying to make it. “Badal is trying to make political capital out of it”, he remarked.
