Nagpur News.
The Local Body Tax (LBT) is turning out to be much more taxing than an asset for cash starved NMC. Apart from denting NMC coffers following steep fall in revenue recovery, the LBT has created an unprecedented financial crisis on salary front. The poor situation NMC is can be gauged from the fact that officials and employees have not been paid their April salaries till today (May 23). And moreover, uncertainty looms large in the coming days, too. The salary deprived officials and employees are facing the untold suffering on day to day livelihood with marriage season and education chores adding more woes. Many employees are taking rounds of money-lenders for bailing them out of this dire situation. Though NMC is in deep financial crisis since past year due to enforcement of LBT, this is probably for the first time the officials and employees not paid salaries even after 23 days of the month. Now, they are getting only assurances of early salaries.
The LBT, this year, has hit NMC hard as far as recovery is concerned. The civic body is off target by a whopping Rs 150 crore. Apart from less LBT recovery, NMC is also facing cash crunch on other accounts. The crisis has put the financial planning in limbo with many development works and establishment expenditure going haywire. Employees, since the past year, have been taking a severe beating in the shape of delayed salaries in the range of 15-20 days. However, the NMC Commissioner has drawn contingency plans and thus has ensured salaries to employees even though delayed.
The financial situation in NMC is somewhat better as compared to civic bodies like Amravati and others in Vidarbha. The LBT is wreaking havoc in these civic bodies as employees have not been paid salaries since the past three months. If the situation continues in coming months also, the employees of civic bodies including NMC would find themselves in dire straits and may think of hitting streets for justice on time.
