Times
of India: Nagpur: Tuesday, 26 August 2014.
The fiscal
health of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is a picture in stark contrast.
While empty coffers have forced it to procure Rs 100 crore loan for executing
various works, the civic body has failed to recover Rs100 crore property tax
arrears from residents, educational and commercial establishments apart from
government organizations and PSU offices in the city.
NMC wants
citizens to timely pay property tax but it has been unsuccessful in recovering
outstanding amount from the state government agencies for many years.
According to
information obtained under Right To Information (RTI) Act by Sanjay Agrawal,
the biggest defaulter among the government offices is Maharashtra Airport
Development Company Ltd (MADC), which is developing Mihan and partly owns MIL,
the company that runs the city airport. Property tax on airport has not been
paid for several years, a senior NMC officer confirmed.
The tax was
not levied when the airport was owned and operated by Airports Authority of
India, a central government entity. MADC has a property tax outstanding of
Rs10.75 crore including Rs 1.99 crore for the current year. Despite repeated
reminders, MADC has not responded, the officer said.
Similarly,
the second biggest defaulter is reality firm IPSEL, located near Harihar Mandir
in Lakadganj. The reality firm has defaulted property tax to the tune of over
Rs9.69 crore.
Standing
committee chairman Narendra Borkar said that the process of recovering arrears
has been slow but has now gained momentum. "I had also set a property tax
collection target of Rs250 crore before the end of this financial year."
He pointed
out some arrears have not been paid for over 15 years. "We have sent such
defaulters many reminders but they haven't bothered to respond," he said.
The RTI reply
also brought to fore arrears from educational institutions and commercial
establishments having links with political leaders. Educational institution
LTJSS, owned by ex-Maharashtra minister Satish Chaturvedi, had defaulted
property tax to the tune of Rs85,76,372.
NIT too
defaulted property tax of Rs2.23 crore on its six properties situated in
different areas in the city limits. M/s Sell Ads figures in the defaulters'
list with an outstanding of Rs3.35 crore.
Borkar said
that NMC was pursuing the issue with senior officers of defaulting government
offices and hoped that the money would be recovered soon. Civic officials,
however, admitted it is difficult to collect the money from government
departments.
He pointed
out that the state government never provided any financial assistance to NMC.
It even delays contributing its share for projects under Jawaharlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mission, he alleged.