[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he pioneers of the Statehood of Nagaland made the State a tax-free State. Those pioneers knew the fragile economy of our people and their mentality. The lesser the tax the happier are the people. Therefore, what the people pay to Government is just the House tax of Rs.20.00 per household, a token tax for both owning and belonging to State Govt. for all who are not exempted. As for Govt. employees, they pay professional tax from their salary. For those whose pay is Rs.2000/- pm, Rs.35/- pm is the tax and ranging above for those who enjoy Rs.12000/- pm and above pay Rs.208/- pm is the maximum professional tax. There are ten categories of professional tax including the minimum and maximum ceilings. Indeed, it is tax free as we don’t give anything to Govt. except taxing the State Govt.
Whereas, so much taxes have to be paid by a contractor when he undertakes an allotted work.
The official taxes are:1. 13% Departmental charges
2. 3%. Contingency
3. 2% Work charge
18% total
The unofficial taxes but compulsorily imposed are:
1. 10% Party fund
2. 5% Underground tax
3. 4.75% Work tax
4. 1% Quality control
20.75% total
The grand total comes to 38.75%.
It is also reliably learnt that a contractor or supplier has to pay 10% to Govt. prior to receipt of work/supply order. Unless the contractor/supplier deposits it, the work order is not issued.
The above figures are abruptly gathered, and since I am not expert on taxes there may be discrepancies in my information. The practice is not of recent but it has been on for years. I expected someone who is well versed with taxes would raise the issue. Yet, none bothered, therefore I am breaking the tip of the iceberg in public interest much to the consternation of powerful people.
Thus, for instance, when a work worth Rs.10 lakh is taken up, the contractor has to dole out Rs.3,87,500/- on taxes and he is left with the remaining Rs.6,12,500 only. At all cost he has to complete the execution, and he is entitled to certain percentage of profit. Under this situation how can we expect the contractor to give quality work, timely completion and follow the specifications. Beside, the contractor is definitely pestered by lot of other elements to be pleased.
When the issue of tax is raised people tend to immediately blame the factions alone. Nonetheless, whether the aforementioned taxes levied by the Govt. has the justifications or not is a very serious question. Whether those taxes are approved by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly or not is the issue. Tax cannot be levied unless the Assembly passes it as per my limited knowledge because it affects the people as a whole directly or indirectly. These taxes issue should have been discussed by Assembly and if any ratification need to be done it should have been done so even at the initiative of the Opposition bench. Unfortunately, today we don’t see the DAN to take Congress seriously due to insignificant presence in the House.
This being the situation, unless the public of Nagaland wake up and defend ourselves, our land is becoming uninhabitable not because of natural calamities but due to manmade calamities. Since all the powerful people in Nagaland ganged up against the general public who are like prisoners, the life is becoming harder everyday. Only the ACAUT and Mr. Kezhokhoto Savi’s organisations do make noises at the moment risking their lives. I do not understand for what purpose other NGOs, Tribal Hohos and the church bodies are there and stand for. Unfortunate that today the church is afraid of evil.
