Nagpur: A delegation of Nagpur Municipal Corporation Employees Union (NMCEU), led by Jammu Anand, on Tuesday met the Nagpur district collector and handed over to him a memorandum, with its copies addressed to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Urban Development Minister of Maharashtra and Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, demanding as to what would be the next mode of octroi-collection by NMC once the LBT is abolished from coming August 1 from the state of Maharashtra.
The delegation told the district administration chief that the LBT (Local Body Tax) was introduced after abolition of octroi system with effect from 2010. The delegates pointed out that several municipal corporations were profited by LBT system though the NMC suffered losses by it. For example, the NMC during year 2013-14 had to suffer a loss of Rs 204 crores through LBT while it had earned Rs 485 crores by octroi in year 2012-13, and Rs 362 crores in year 2011-12 through octroi, and so on. In other words, the NMC was always profited by the octroi system while the LBT system proved a curse for it. According to expert opinion if the LBT fetched only Rs 346 crores to NMC in year 2014-15, the new octroi system may fetch Rs 404 crores during year 2015-16.
The delegation expressed its concern about the revenue generation by the NMC which is facing financial crunch in terms of making salary payments to its staff and meeting other expenditures including various developmental works and projects. The delegation also raised a query as to how the state government could abolish the LBT without announcing the alternative source of income for the local body. So, the delegation demanded that the state government must announce the alternative source for revenue generation for all municipal corporations in the state before the LBT is abolished from August 1.
The delegation included Sheshrao Gotmare, Ramesh Gavai, and Waman Meshram
Rajeev Ranjan Kushwaha (rajeev.nagpurtoday@gmail.com)
