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  India   All India  10 Feb 2018  It was Captain who started I-T sops for MLAs

It was Captain who started I-T sops for MLAs

THE ASIAN AGE. | TANVEER THAKUR
Published : Feb 10, 2018, 3:20 am IST
Updated : Feb 10, 2018, 3:20 am IST

Chief minister Amarinder Singh's decision to cut down expenses is in view of the financial constraints of the state.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh (Photo: PTI)
 Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh (Photo: PTI)

Chandigarh: The recent suggestion by the Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh that state MLAs and ministers should themselves pay their income-tax has brought the matter in public glare.

The cash-starved Punjab government’s claim that it is in no position to pay it anymore has got a lot of attention as many people were not aware of this practice, started by Amarinder Singh himself in 2004, where state government pays the income tax of public representatives.

The suggestion to withdraw the sop was first mooted by the finance department in October last year, the move was endorsed by the chief minister  during  a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee on fiscal management.

Doing away with the sop will help the state save Rs 11.08 crore annually. Of this, Rs 10.72 crore are being speont on payment of income tax of MLAs and the remaining for ministers.

MLAs are yet to give their opinion on the suggestion, although the leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembl and Aam Aadmi Party leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira welcomed it. "But why does the chief minister need an army of advisers? He should remove them as well," he said.

Former finance minister and Akali Dal leader Parminder Dhindsa gave a mixed reaction and said, "I am fine with the move. However, MLAs have to spend lot money in a month. The MLAs are not really highly paid people, government should first raise their salaries before putting a stop on payment of I-T.”

Punbaj chief minister's salary is around Rs 2.3 lakh and an  MLA's salary adds up to Rs 1 lakh.

Chief minister Amarinder Singh's decision to cut down expenses is in view of the financial constraints of the state. In 2017-18, Punjab's debt stood at Rs 1.82 lakh crore. It is expected to rise to Rs 1.95 lakh crore by the end of the current fiscal.

However, not many people know that this peculiar practice was started by the former chief minister Pratap Singh Kairon but at that time the chief minister was the only beneficiary. Ironically, it was Amarinder Singh, the present chief minister, who extended the benefit to all legislators in  2004.

Amrinder Singh at that time reasoned that the move is to check corruption. "We have to pay them a decent amount so that they can function with dignity," he said. "They had approached the government through the speaker and we agreed to it."

The 2004 tax exemption to MLAs was challenged in the Punjab and Haryana high court, but was dismissed as the state government at that time submitted that it was footing the income tax bill with no loss to the income-tax department.

As per the a report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR0, of the 117 Punjab MLAs in the present Assembly , 95 (81%) are crorepatis.  However, the crorepati MLAs are not paying income-tax on salary like everyone else it is paid from the state exchequer.

Tags: captain amarinder singh, income tax, parminder dhindsa