THIRUVANATHAPURAM: CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday called for boycotting the hike in water tariff and land tax announced by the UDF government.
At a press conference here, he hit out at the Oommen Chandy government accusing it of imposing a huge burden on the common man in the name of additional resource mobilisation.
The party would appeal to the people against paying the increased water tariff and land tax besides launching a statewide campaign against the tough measurs, he added.
The LDF state committee meeting here on September 21 will finalise the agitation plan, including gherao of counters meant for remitting water tariff and land tax.
“The 60 per cent hike in water tariff is unacceptable as it puts an additional burden of Rs 200 crore on the people. While the government is taxing the common man heavily, it has failed to collect dues worth Rs 500 crore from big consumers, including industrial houses, which have not paid for industrial water. Even KWA officials are not being allowed to initiate legal action against such violators,’’ Mr Vijayan said.
While the government was legally empowered to increase taxes, the manner in which it was carried out through a cabinet decision spoke volumes about its financial mismanagement, he said.
“Such desperate measures are taken during war-like situation or other extraordinary times. Moreover, by failing to get the tax proposal approved by the Assembly, the government has made a mockery of the budget,’’ he added.
Of the Rs 14,000 crore borrowing allowed this year, the government had already taken almost half. Dues worth Rs 2,600 crore were pending for contractors, he said and added that the government had pushed the state to such a desperate situation because of the splurge, non- budget expenditure and failure to effectively collect tax revenue.
“We will not allow the government to punish the people for its inefficiency and splurge,” he added.
