VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Urban Citizens Forum says it would hold a series of protests seeking cancellation of property tax and garbage tax and launch a Praja Chaitanya Yatra from Monday, July 5. It also plans to hold Deekshas on July 18, 19 and 20 in the state.
APUCF convener Babu Rao said the tax hike would have an adverse effect on the 1.5 crore urban population in the state who are already in a financial crisis due to pandemic. “This is time for the state and central governments to provide relief to the people but they are imposing additional burden through tax hikes. The central government has given conditional loans to the AP government and is directing it to increase taxes,” he said.
Rao said that despite protests, there was no response from chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy and urged him to break his silence on the tax hike. He also urged municipal administration minister Botsa Satyanarayana to organise a meeting with political parties and others to resolve the tax hike and garbage tax issues.
He said APUCF would intensify the protest through the Praja Chaitanya Yatra from July 5 to 11, with a call to the government, ‘Don’t hike property tax’ and 'Don't impose garbage tax’, and a ‘Say no to tax hike GOs’ call to the people. On July 15, they would organise a public ballot with participation of the public. From July 18 to 20, protests would be organised in all cities and towns with the support of various organisations against the new tax policy, he said.
