PDP Demands Revocation of Property Tax on Badamibagh Cantonment Residents

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday demanded the revocation of property tax on the residents within the jurisdiction of Badamibagh Cantonment Board here after some inhabitants claimed to have received such notices. Addressing a press conference here, PDP chief spokesperson Suhail Bukhari said the decision to levy property tax in the areas under the jurisdiction of the Badamibagh Cantonment Board was arbitrary and must be rolled back immediately. Badamibagh Cantonment Board, or BB Cantt, is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Defence.

There are reports that the people living within the jurisdiction of the Cantonment Board are being asked to pay property tax. Instead of helping the people who have been suffering from 2019, the government is pushing the people to the wall, Bukhari said. He said the decision should be revoked especially since the people in the Valley were suffering economically.

This arbitrary decision of charging property tax from the local residents should be revoked immediately. People should not be made to suffer. People are in distress for the last two years as they have suffered economically. The government institutions or agencies rather than helping the people are giving them more trouble by such decisions, he said. Bukhari said it seems the decision has been taken to weaken the people of Jammu and Kashmir economically as well as politically.

The Badamibagh Cantonment is a class II cantonment established in 1954, covering a total area of 1458.537 acres including civil area of 313.50 acres, according to the board’s website. Referring to the rumours in the valley that the Centre was planning further reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP spokesperson asked the administration to come out with facts.

If they are only rumours, then the government should have come forward to dispel these rumours. Some high-ranking official should come on record and tell the people that these are all rumours and assure the people so that there is no uncertainty, he said.

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