The Hindu : Delay in SAS implementation hits HDMC salary grants

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 14, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Delay in SAS implementation hits HDMC salary grants

By Our Special Correspondent

HUBLI Feb. 13 . The employees of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) may not get their salary for the next three to four months.

This follows the decision of the State Government to withhold the salary grants following the delay of the HDMC in implementing the self-assessment scheme (SAS) for property tax in the corporation area. The monthly salary bill of the corporation works to around 1.99 crore, and the grant for this, which should have come by February 5, has not come so far.

It is learnt that the State Government had issued a directive that the SAS be implemented by February. It warned that salary grant would be stopped in case the deadline was not adhered to.

The elected body took time to deliberate on the SAS and sought clarifications on certain aspects of the scheme and could not adhere to the schedule mentioned by the State Government. The State Government's stipulation that the salary grant would be released only on implementation of the SAS was not known to the elected representatives.

This is said to be the fall-out of the tug-of-war between the elected representatives and the Commissioner of the corporation, Navin Raj Singh, with the former succeeding in getting the latter transferred. Taken unawares by the non-receipt of the salary grant, the Mayor, Prakash Kyarakatti, accompanied by K.N. Gaddi, district in-charge minister, left for Bangalore on Wednesday night on a damage control operation. Though the corporation has initiated steps to implement the SAS, it is said that it will take three to four months before the accruals start. Only after that will the salary grant be released.

Mr. Singh had taken steps to open a special account to ensure that the employees got salary by the fifth of every month.

It transpires that the account opened for this purpose will not become operative till SAS receipts flow in.

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