Chandigarh, Oct 31: For the Congress government in Punjab, austerity begins in ‘House’. After inheriting an ‘empty treasury’ from the previous Akali-BJP regime, the cash-starved government is no longer eager to foot the income tax bill of its 117 lawmakers, 95 of whom (81%) are crorepatis, according to a report from the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an independent outfit promoting transparency.
In percentage terms, this House actually has 7% fewer crorepatis than the previous assembly.
The state finance department has mooted a proposal to do away with exemption to lawmakers from paying income tax on salary. On March 3, 2004, during his previous stint as the chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh had granted exemption to MLAs from paying income tax on their salary through a notification.
News Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com
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