Chandigarh, April 19, 2021
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has strongly demanded Captain Amarinder Singh-led state government to waive the electricity bills and property tax of the people in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, so that the people of the state could be provided financial assistance. In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Monday, the AAP said that the people of the state had been suffering from the Corona pandemic for more than a year now and lakhs of people had lost their jobs due to curfew and lockdown imposed by the government at various times during this period.
The party stated that in such a situation, it had become very difficult for the people, especially the middle class to support their families. Therefore, it has become imperative to provide relief to the middle class families from other charges including electricity bills and property tax,” it added. The statement further said that the AAP believes that the central and state governments were there to help the people and not to collect taxes. “People vote for one party or the other to solve their problems and hand over the state power to them and the people hope that the government will support them in times of trouble and save them from natural and man-made disasters,” it said.
The AAP said that although the Punjab government has failed to save the lives of thousands of people in the state during the Corona pandemic; it was now the responsibility of the Captain government to provide financial assistance to the people. It further stated that it was therefore imperative that Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh immediately announce a one year exemption from other taxes levied including electricity bills, property taxes,water bills with immediate effect.
The AAP stated that while many countries around the world, including the United States, Canada, England and Italy, are providing relaxation in taxes as well as financial assistance to their people, the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi was providing free electricity, water and providing more financial support, including donations. The statement further said that Punjab is also a developed state of the country and the government was collecting a lot of taxes from the people, but this money was being spent very little for their service and welfare; but was being wasted on the army of ministers and advisers to provide them royal amenities. “In the wake of Covid’s wrath, the Captain government should stop tax collection from the people of Punjab so that the middle class families can raise their children in a world of unemployment,” it added.
