LUDHIANA: The Punjab Chief Minister, Beant Singh, on April 4, said that he had been misquoted on his respond suggestion to set up a common administrative set up for all the Northern Indian States.
Talking to newsmen here, he said, his suggestion implied that since the northern states had similar problems and to effectively deal with the problems like security, smuggling and law and order, common administrative machinery could be set up. He said, the Akali factions were raising a hue and cry without trying to understand what he had actually said on the subject.
Beant Singh said that during his recent meeting with the Prime Minister, P.V. Narsimha Rao, he had pressed upon for sorting out the pending issues of Punjab to the satisfaction of all concerned parties and the prime minster had assured that an announcement would be made soon. He, however, replied in the negative when asked whether the announcement would be made by Baisakhi day.
Later, presiding over a state level convention of electrical dealers, the chief minister explained in detail the steps taken by his government to mitigate the problems of trade and industry. He said, the rate of sales tax on various items of daily use has been reduced in the budget proposals for the current financial year, The government had decided in principle to levy sales tax on first stage for as many as 1,000 items and a Bill to this effect would be brought in the Next sitting of the state assembly.
He said, the government had accepted almost all recommendations of the high powered Sales Tax Advisory Committee and difficulties of the trade with regard to sales tax form XXII would also be removed. The chief minister offered to totally abolish the sales tax XXII form if the trade and industry reciprocated by cooperating with the government to check evasion of sales tax.
The chief minister sought the cooperation of the masses in order to provide them with a clean administration. He said, after the marked improvement in the law and order situation in this border Stale, the government was now taking measures to revitalize the slate economy and give a boost to trade and industry.
Making a dig at the Akali factions, the chief minister said that the Akali groups had lost the moral right to represent the people of Punjab when they had boycotted the last elections of the Punjab assembly under the threat from the gun wielding boys and at the instance of Pakistan, which was all out to disrupt life in Punjab and jeopardize the unity and integrity of the nation. Speaking at this occasion, the State Excise and Taxation Minister, Shamsher Singh Dullo, said that the government had taken various measures to simplify and rationalize the sales tax structure, although no revolutionary changes could be brought about so far.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 9, 1993
