DANG, Aug 31: Tulsipur Sub-metropolitan City has sought clarification from a ward secretary of the city for disseminating tax-related information to the media.
The clarification was sought from Bhuwaneshwar Adhikari, secretary of ward no. 11, after Republica published an article on haphazard taxes imposed by the sub-metropolis on the locals. High officials at the sub-metropolis were said to be upset with the ward office for passing ‘internal information’ to the newspaper. The news report dealt with the random increment in taxes because of a problem in software and included views of service seekers of ward no. 11 along with government officials and elected people’s representatives.
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The clarification letter, which was signed by administrative officer Kaju Sharma, was sent under orders from sub-metropolitan city mayor Ghanshyam Pandey. When questioned if retrieving information about the extreme taxation on locals was wrong, Sharma responded, “I don’t know if it’s right or wrong. But the mayor wanted a written clarification from the ward for providing information on internal matters to the press.” However, Mayor Pandey says he knew nothing about the clarification letter demanded by his office. He said, “I didn’t ask for any clarification. I only demanded information regarding the problems faced by the ward office in collecting taxes.”
A local of ward no. 4 of Tulsipur who paid Rs 3,100 last year had to pay Rs 262,000 this year because of some technical problems in the software used to calculate taxes. The elected representatives of the ward have expressed dissatisfaction with the sub-metropolitan city for interfering in their affairs regarding this matter.
