The CPI(M) will press for the rollback of property tax by leading an all-party delegation to the Chief Minister on August 11 if no response comes by then, former MP and CPI(M) Central Committee member P. Madhu has said.
Addressing a fast organised near GVMC on Monday to mark the conclusion of the eight-day jeep jatha of the party to campaign for the reduction of the tax, he said charges were levied on all civic services and property tax hiked in the name of reforms at the behest of the World Bank. The situation warranted serious resistance.
Big schemes
CPI(M) district secretary Ch. Narsinga Rao criticised the corporation for proposing big schemes like laying a pipeline from Yeleru at a cost of Rs.1,600 crore even as people groaned under the tax burden. He found fault with the opposition TDP and YSR Congress for not joining hands for a strong protest with an eye on votes for them as a result of tax increase and hoping for power. CPI(M) would continue its struggle till a rollback was effected, he said. CPI(M) city secretary B. Ganga Rao said a praja durbar against the hike would be held at Gajuwaka on Tuesday and at GVMC on Wednesday. He demanded that GVMC should pass a resolution to reduce the tax in view of a large number of assessees still not paying the increased tax.
CITU district general secretary Ajay Sarma and others spoke. A large number of protestors, mainly women, participated in the fast.
