Hosiery makers lament at govt apathy

The Ludhiana Knitwear Club has viewed with concern the tendency of government functionaries as well as top brass of the excise and taxation department of accusing the business community of indulging in tax evasion.

In a meeting of the body held under the presidentship of Vinod Thapar here today, the hosiery manufacturers lamented that despite a lion's share of value added tax (VAT), paid by the organised sector, an accusing finger was always pointed at this section which caused a lot of humiliation and harassment.

"The fact remains that recently the vigilance bureau has exposed the scam worth crore of rupees at the hands of government official. Even this detection may only be a tip of the iceberg. The malady lies much deeper," Thapar said.

Others who spoke at the meeting were Bhushan Maini, Narinder Miglani, Jaswant Takkar and Charanjiv Singh.

They further alleged that tax evasion worth lakhs of rupees was committed in connivance with the department concerned which allowed the "peti mafia" to indulge in illegal activity.

The hosiery owners rued that goods supplied to chain stores at ex-factory price, having MRP tags, were also being detained at various barriers and traders as well as manufacturers were being harassed by the excise and taxation officials on the pretext that invoices of such goods were under-valued.

"Such high-handed tactics of the department are causing an exodus of the entrepreneurs. The earlier the confidence building measures are taken the better," they stressed.