Barnala/Sangrur, October 29
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the SAD would put an end to Inspector Raj, introduce lump sum taxation and self declarations and provide an atmosphere for traders and industrialists to grow without any fear of State agencies.
The SAD president, who held highly responsive interactions with traders and industrialists at Barnala and Sangrur said the current atmosphere of fear which had engulfed the State had not only caused immense losses to the business class but had also led to the flight of capital from Punjab and halted investment into the State.
Asserting that the present Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was virtually collecting ransoms from the trade and industry by conducting GST raids on their premises besides forcing them to cough up donations for the party, Sukhbir Badal said “this along with extortion calls from gangsters has stifled industrial growth in Punjab”. He assured the gatherings that the next SAD government would free Punjab from the menace of gangsters and bring in transparent policies based on mutual trust and respect.
Badal also announced that once a SAD government was formed, the Rahat scheme, which had been formulated by the erstwhile SAD government and which only required traders to pay lump sum tax on the basis of self attestation, would be re-introduced. He also announced that CLU charges would be reduced and made completely transparent and that people investing in developed colonies would not be required to take any NOC and could simply file a self-declaration to get their registry done.
The interactions witnessed traders listing their grievances to the SAD president. Barnala Rice Millers Association president Ajaib Barnala said millers were facing huge losses with the two percent weight loss concession given for the stored rice being withdrawn completely. He said even the 2.5 per cent commission given to ‘arhatiyas’ for procuring food grains had been drastically reduced. He also asserted that they were also suffering due to lack of storage capacity to store food grain.
Prince, a cloth merchant feom Sangrur, disclosed that the State was under a GST mafia rule and that officers had been given tax collection quotas and were forcibly imposing penalties to collect money from them. Surinder Duggal and Ravi Bansal of the Chemist association of Barnala said medical store owners were being treated like criminals. They said the government was complicit in the sale of ‘chitta’ but chemists were being made scapegoats.
Traders also highlighted how CLU charges had become astronomical and that they had to pay bribes on top of the charges to secure permissions. Pesticide sellers said cases were registered against them in case there was any problem in the quality of a pesticide or seed when they were selling branded products.
In Sangrur traders said they were being charged cow cess but the same was not used for either removing the problem of stray cows or for development as envisaged. Chartered accountant Mohit Kumar said they should not be made party in client cases. Bhawanigarh Arhtiya Association president Narata Ram spoke on how the rights of Arthiyas were safeguarded by former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. Kamal Anand and Hitesh Kumar of the Hotel Association called for introducing self-attestation to remove red tapism and corruption for various government clearances. Ghanshyam Aggarwal of the Industry Association complained that industrialists were not getting GST refunds for a long time. Naratta Ram of the Spare Parts Association asserted that the trade and industry wanted to see Mr Sukhbir Badal as the next chief minister of the State.
Assuring traders and industrialists that all their issues would be included in the party’s upcoming election manifesto, Mr Badal said “we are committed to removing all your grievances as we give top most priority to Punjabis unlike the Congress and AAP who have no interest in your issues and only want to secure your votes to loot the State”. He assured that cow pounds would be created once the SAD government was formed and that he would also showcase a profitable ‘gaushala’ pilot project in his farm which could be replicated everywhere in the State.
The Shiromani Akali Dal president received demand / suggestion letters from various associations and assured them to incorporate them in the party’s poll manifesto.
The SAD halka incharges from Barnala and Sangrur, Kulwant Singh Kanta and Arvind Khanna, respectively, were also present on the occasions.