THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: THE Kerala Police can now heIn a belated move, the KPCC has announced a stir against slapping of higher stamp duty for registering partition deeds in families and hiking the tax for a few essential commodities. KPCC president V M Sudheeran has informed that Congress activists will stage a dharna in front of the Secretariat and in front of Collectorates across the state on July 25, demanding a rollback of the newly introduced higher tax regime through the revised budget of the new government.
Apart from taking up a people’s issue, the stir assumes significance against the backdrop of criticism against the KPCC leadership that a lead is not being given to the party by way of action to overcome the impact and sentiments looming large after the assembly poll debacle. Incidentally, when the UDF unsuccessfully pressurised the government during the first Assembly session recently to not to press for a revision of existing rates for registering family partition deeds and hike the tax for essential commodities like wheat products and coconut oil, neither leading partner Congress nor other coalition partners chose to build up protests outside. The revised budget proposals were adopted by the House and it came into effect the other day.
Sudheeran said that replacing a flat Rs 1,000 for registration of partition deeds in families with a 3 per cent stamp duty of the fair price value of land is unjustified.’’It has put commoners in dire straits. People have to shell out a substantial amount for registering a partition deed. The increase is equivalent to reinstating estate duty, he said.
He also pointed out that implementation of Finance Minister Thomas Issac’s budget proposals hiking the tax for wheat products, coconut oil and basmati rice is making the life of people miserable. ‘’The government had not heeded to the vociferous demand of UDF MLAs in the Assembly to roll back the proposals to impose higher taxes on commoners in the name additional resources mobilization. Now the only option left for corrective measures is to take an agitation course against the new taxes and anti-people policies of the new government,’’ he said.