Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday demanded that the Congress government should waive off property tax and fixed charges on electricity bills for the industrial sector as well as shops, hotels, and restaurants for one year to compensate them for the losses suffered by them due to repeated lockdowns.
In a statement here, the SAD president said the industry, as well as trade and hospitality sectors, were facing a severe financial crisis. He said chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh had promised to waive off fixed charges on power bills for two months last year but the government went back on this commitment and did not implement the waiver. He said things had gone far worse since then.
“Besides the industrial sector, the trade and hospitality sectors have gone into the red. It is absolutely essential to give them a breather by waiving off fixed charges for these sectors for one year starting from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022,” Sukhbir said. He said similarly a one-year Property tax waiver should also be implemented for the trade and industry sectors to help them tide over the current Covid -19 induced crises.
Sukhbir Badal announced that in case the Congress government remained insensitive to the suffering of the trade and industry and refused to extend any relief to these sectors, the SAD would implement these waivers once it assumed power in the State in 2022. Asserting that the Congress government had turned a blind eye to the suffering of every section of society, Badal said, “no relief has been extended to the common man with the government turning down the demand to waive off power bills for six months to help the power consumers stand back on their feet.”