Fear shuts Manipur tax wing - Militants demand money
The taxation wing of the Manipur government has ceased to function after all the employees barring the head of the department took leave en masse following alleged threats from several militant groups.
The departmental office located at the directorate complex near the headquarters of a Manipur Rifles battalion here has been locked since yesterday as all the employees took earned leave till August 30.
This is for the first time in Manipur that an entire office complex was closed down following threats from militants.
Reports said several militant groups have demanded huge sums of money from the employees of the department and some of the groups set August 31 as the deadline for the payment. The groups allegedly warned the employees with dire consequences if their demands were not met.
When this correspondent visited the complex, the main gate of the office was found locked and no employee could be seen. A notice pasted on the wall near the main gate said the employees were on earned leave.
“We have no alternative to taking mass leave in view of the threat and strong pressure mounted by several militant groups. The total sum demanded by the groups is about Rs 70 lakh and we have no money to pay,” a senior official of the department said.
Commissioner of the department, R.K. Dinesh, had earlier notified that all the registered and unregistered dealers and shops should get themselves registered under the new value added tax (VAT) system on or before September 1. The notification warned that an amount not less than Rs 5,000 and not exceeding Rs 10,000 would be collected as fine for each defaulting month from each dealer if they failed to get themselves registered. Manipur introduced the new tax regime with effect from June 1.
But as the office has been closed without any formal notification, many who turned up for registration of their shops and also to clear the tax under the new system had to go back.
“I came to pay sales tax under the new VAT regime. We had no information of the closure of the office. Our time has been wasted. What is more important is that since the office will remain closed till August 30, we have only two days to pay the tax and registration fee. Will they impose fine on those of us who fail to clear the tax during the two days?” L. Sanajaoba, a drug stockist, asked.
The department has about 100 employees and some of them said they could not sit in the office and work due to the militant threat. “There is a fear psychosis prevailing among the officials. Earlier, three officials were kidnapped by militants. On the one hand we are facing threats from militant groups while on the other, the government is pressuring us to go for an enhanced tax collection drive. We are sandwiched between the two,” another official said.
Source: telegraphindia.com