Jammu: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today said that 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.
He made these remarks while inaugurating new facilities at the Jammu Club.
“Administration and citizens have a shared responsibility to build an inclusive and developed J&K. It is time for everyone to introspect because rights and duties are two sides of the same coin. We must pay for services wherever necessary so that UT moves faster on the development trajectory,” LG said.
He said that his administration is working with dedication, commitment, and with a people-first approach to transforming the life of the 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,” said LG.
He said that society does not progress only because of infrastructure and material comforts, but by discharging responsibilities.
Speaking on 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. A 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 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.
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 the common man and the business community has been paramount.
The 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.
