Tax relief for property owners
Property owners in Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) area will not have to bear the burden of arrears if it happened because of the civic body’s inability to increase tax on time. The civic body is supposed to evaluate a property every six years with a 10% increase in tax. The property tax is calculated on the basis of the valuation of the property. But there are many places where this revaluation has not been done in a decade or more, a KMC official said. Earlier, the civic body used to charge property owners arrears for the 10 per cent increase every six years.
Mass openings for teachers
The West Bengal government decided to recruit 15,000 primary school teachers. The process of recruiting the teachers will be initiated after the upcoming civic polls across the state, said an official of school education department. The last examination for recruiting primary teachers was held in 2015 but the recruitment was delayed because of a series of cases filed in courts by applicants. The government had then recruited 35,000 primary teachers. In 2017, the government sought applications for primary teachers, but examination could not be held. The education department sources said those who had applied in 2017 would not have to submit fresh application. These recruitments will be watched carefully given the large unemployment in the eastern state.
Safety for school students
The state government has formed a joint task force to draw up rules for the safety of schoolchildren travelling in pool cars and school buses. A separate set of guidelines has been drawn up for commercial and private vehicles that ferry school students across the state. The move is a first-of-its-kind in the state to regulate pool cars after the death of an eight-year-old boy in a pool car accident in Hooghly district. The task force will crack down on private cars with non-commercial registration plates plying as pool cars.
Road tax due date extended
Vehicle owners who will clear their road tax dues by March 31 will enjoy 100 per cent waiver of penalty on pending tax and 50 per cent waiver of compounding fine for vehicle-related offences, the transport department announced. The decision, applicable across the state, is aimed at collecting nearly 40 per cent of pending fines, which could run into tens of crores in both categories, said an official of the finance department. Penalty for road tax violation grows with every passing day after the stipulated grace period of 15 days from the due date. Hundreds are expected to avail the benefit.