Tewari flays imposition of house tax, demands withdrawal

Calls the move 'exorbitant' and 'absolutely uncalled for'

Union Minister Manish Tewari today lashed out at the SAD-BJP government for imposing property tax in Punjab and demanded its immediate withdrawal.

"It (property tax) simply amounts to picking pockets of helpless people to fill the empty coffers of the state," he said in a statement issued here.

Demanding immediate withdrawal of the tax, the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister said it was not only exorbitant, but also absolutely uncalled for.

"The state government appears to be trying to plug small holes in an otherwise sinking ship by imposing arbitrary taxes on common people," Tewari said.

As if the backbreaking electricity bills were not enough to shatter the economic equilibrium of the common man, the SAD-BJP government has come out with a highly "insensitive and ruthless" property tax, making life more difficult for everybody, the Minister said.

Tewari, who represents the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency, advised the state government that the taxes would not retrieve the state's economy, which is in total shambles due to its own "mismanagement".

The Minister added, the state government should build the trust of people and investors which can lead to revenue generation.