AAP, Congress trade barbs over ‘proposed’ tax on Punjab pensioners

Chandigarh, A war of words has erupted between AAP and the Congress over a “communication” of the Finance Department regarding a proposed tax of Rs 200 per month on pensioners.

The entire controversy started after a communication, issued on June 22 by the Finance Department, went viral on social media. It cited the department’s nod to charge Rs 200 per month as the Punjab State Development Tax from the pensioners in the state.

Reacting to the development, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa on Thursday lambasted the AAP government.

Bajwa said after increasing VAT on petrol and diesel for the second time and enhancing electricity rates, the government had now proposed a new tax.

“After failing to raise Rs 20,000 crore in revenue from sand mining and Rs 34,000 crore by ending corruption as promised by AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, the government in Punjab is attempting to raise revenue by fleecing old pensioners,” Bajwa added.

The LoP said there were lakhs of pensioners in the state, who would be affected by the proposed order.

“The AAP government has done nothing to streamline the deteriorating fiscal health of Punjab, consequently the state is on the verge of an economic slowdown,” Bajwa added.

In a statement, Bajwa said the routine activities were being run on borrowed money. A few weeks back the AAP government decided to auction at least 175 properties owned by Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board, also known as the Punjab Mandi Board to ease financial stress.

In response to Bajwa’s accusations, AAP’s chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said the development tax had been imposed by then Congress minister Manpreet Singh Badal in 2018. “Kindly refrain from peddling false information as the Punjab Government under the aegis of the CM neither proposed nor imposed such regressive tax on people,” he said.

There are 3.07 lakh pensioners in the state and the government can generate Rs 73 crore from the development fund annually.