Chandigarh, Apr 3 (UNI) Senior Congress leader and Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari on Thursday demanded withdrawal of the exorbitant hike in the house tax and collector rates for registering property here.

Tewari noted that the whopping hike in the house tax rates and collector rates for the sale and purchase of property was apparently done to meet the municipal expenses of the city that is supposedly bankrupt .

He said the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (CMC) should get 30 percent of the total grant the Union Territory gets out of the union budget according to the formula evolved by the Delhi Finance Commisson.

He said, this year Rs 6100 crore had been allocated to the UT. So, going by the calculation, the CMC should get between Rs 1700 to Rs 1800 crore to meet its various expenses. However, CMC gets only about Rs 570-580 crore, which is far less than the 30 percent recommended by the Delhi Finance Commission and the 15th Finance Commission for inter-Se devolution of resources between states and their respective Urban Local bodies.

Tewari said all the revenue generating departments are with the Chandigarh Administration while all departments which require substantial expenditure are with the CMC.

Asserting that the exorbitant hike must be withdrawn immediately, he said, it will put the residents of Chandigarh under extra financial burden, who are already reeling under financial strain due to high cost of living and rising prices of essential commodities.

Moreover, he pointed out, most of the Chandigarh residents are working class people like employees or retired people, who cannot afford the additional burden that has been imposed on them by way of exorbitant house tax and extra collector rates. UNI GS SSP