Tuesday, 08 AUGUST 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) will set up camps in all slums of the city for the first time to increase the property tax collection in this financial year. Though the corporation had set up camps for property tax collection in some slum areas in the past this is the first time such camps will be organised at such a level in over 120 slums of the city. However, payment of tax by slum dwellers will not ensure their right on the property in the slums, most of which are encroachments along riversides and other sites. In these camps, the tax section of the corporation is expected to cover over 50,000 houses in these slums. The corporation is presently preparing a schedule to conduct these camps and will soon make it public to ensure the maximum number of people residing in slums arrive for property tax submission, said the municipal tax superintendent Dharmesh Painuly. The camp will be set up initially in such wards where the slum population is high.
The mayor Sunil Uniyal ‘Gama’ is expected to inaugurate the first camp by the end of this month.
The municipal commissioner Manuj Goyal has directed the tax section and the senior officials of the corporation to take all possible measures to collect property tax from all establishments. The MCD collected Rs 52 crore of property tax in the last financial year and is making consistent efforts to maximise the tax collection to cross the mark of Rs 75 crore this year. The tax section has also started the verification process of self-assessment details provided by property owners during tax submission and so far around Rs two crore has been collected as a penalty from nine non-residential establishments. The officials said that the corporation will also raise awareness in slums before the commencement of the camps with the help of respective councillors to ensure that the maximum number of slum dwellers arrive for tax submission. However, officials clarified that property tax submission does not indicate any kind of ownership of the taxpayer over the land in slums.
