Administration, citizens have shared responsibility to build inclusive, developed J&K: Sinha

‘Some people deliberately trying to spread misinformation, create false narrative on Property Tax’

STATE TIMES NEWS

JAMMU: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday said the Administration and citizens have a shared responsibility to build an inclusive and developed Jammu and Kashmir, adding that it is time for everyone to introspect because rights and duties are two sides of same coin.
“We must pay for services wherever necessary so that UT moves faster on development trajectory,” the Lt Governor said while inaugurating new facilities at the Jammu Club.
He said: “We are working with dedication, commitment and with people-first approach to transform the life of common man. Each one of us will have to play an equally important role to effectively counter the misinformation on property tax and convey the truth and facts to the general public”.
Sinha said the society does not progress only because of infrastructure and material comforts, but by discharging responsibilities.
Referring to the Property Tax, the Lt Governor said, Jammu Kashmir is the last among the states/UTs to introduce the provision of property tax which is the least as compared to other regions.
Out of 5,20,000 houses in urban areas, 2,06,000 i.e. 40% houses which are less than 1000 sq ft are completely exempted. Minimum tax has been imposed on other houses. We have made such arrangements that out of 5,20,000 houses, 4,09,600 houses (80%) are either be totally exempted or will have to pay less than Rs.1000 as property tax annually. Similarly, out of 1,01,000 shops in urban areas, around 76,000 i.e. 75% shops are such that they will be paying less than Rs 2000 property tax annually and 45% i.e 46,000 shops out of 1,01,000 shops will have to pay less than Rs 700 tax annually, said the Lt Governor., said the Lt Governor.
This is a very nominal amount as compared to other cities of the country like Shimla, Ambala, Dehradun, he further added.
The Lt Governor said that some people are deliberately trying to spread misinformation and create a false narrative. We are ready to consider better suggestions and solutions. We will implement genuine suggestions. In every decision that we have taken so far, the interest of common man and business community has been paramount.
Common man has no issue with property tax. Only some special people are troubled by it, who had gathered fortunes for many generations by hoodwinking the common masses of J&K, he added.
On the occasion, the Lt Governor congratulated the members of Jammu Club for their immense contribution to cultural and social welfare programmes.
The Lt Governor appreciated 3000 members of the club for working as change agents and the consciousness of the society.
The Lt Governor said Amrit Kaal is an opportune occasion to remove all traces of colonial mindset and promote our clubs as a medium for community development and to inspire social change.
The Lt Governor further observed that we have become the fifth largest economy of the world and under the guidance of Prime Minister, we are aspiring to become the third largest economy of the world.
The Lt Governor said that the work culture in the administration has been completely overhauled. Maximum public services have been made online. We are integrating around 32 services into auto appeal mode and fine will be levied on officials who will fail to provide public services in the set timeline, he added.
J&K was among the states, registering positive growth during covid. One lakh crore rupees worth highway and road projects are under execution in the UT. Our health infrastructure is better and we are leading in health parameters on the national level. We are the first to launch Universal health insurance coverage of Rs 5 Lakh to all households of the UT, said the Lt Governor.
We have the best industrial development scheme. Land banks have been developed across the UT, besides Land retrieved during anti-encroachment drives will be used for developing infrastructure of various sectors, he added.
Mukesh Singh, ADGP Jammu; Ramesh Kumar, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu; Gaurav Gupta, Hon. Secretary, Jammu Club, besides members of Jammu club were present on the occasion.