Sena goes soft on tax recovery drive, to hold GB on June 14

Aurangabad: The Shiv Sena-led municipal body appears to have softened its stand on tax recovery fearing negative impact on the voters. It has once again decided to hold a special general body meeting on Tuesday to discuss its strategy on the tax recovery drive.
Mayor Trimbak Tupe said he would allow all the corporators to express their views on the crucial issue."We will discuss various methods that could help the authorities recover tax," he said. But sources said it is a damage control exercise by the party.
For the past 2-3 days, Shiv Sena leaders, including Aurangabad MP Chandrakant Khaire and others, have been raising objection over the municipal body's proposed aggressive drive to recover property tax. In a recent public rally, Khaire has said he would not allow the municipal authorities to deal with the tax payers in a harsh manner.
Tupe said the citizens have developed a sense of fear after the municipal authorities announced the drive. "We are looking at satisfactory levels of tax collections but not at the cost of creating panic. We want to execute the drive very sensibly and recover the tax without affecting the common public. The civic body should also provide all possible help to the tax payers," he said.
The municipal body has been planning to recover outstanding dues to the tune of Rs 285 crore on account of property tax pending for the past few years. The total financial liability of the municipal body in the current financial year is Rs 662 crore, but it seems very difficult to raise the amount through routine tax recovery. The civic body has no other option but to speed up recovery.