No tax receipts, villagers not able to apply for Magalir Urimai Thogai
Residents claimed that they have paid their tax directly to date and received a manual bill. “
Women staging a sit-in protest in front of the Narayanapuram panchayat office.
TIRUPATTUR: Women belonging to around 150 families at Narayanapuram on Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border near Vaniyambadi were unable to apply for the State government’s Magalir Urimai Thogai scheme as the panchayat has been reportedly refusing to provide them receipts of online payment of property tax.
Residents claimed that they have paid their tax directly to date and received a manual bill. “But after the introduction of the online payment system, they were unable to get a receipt from the panchayat office,” says Kamala, a resident of the village.
Another resident Mani lamented that they were being denied various facilities as the panchayat claimed that they were residents of Andhra Pradesh. With the Andhra border located a kilometre and a half from their locality, panchayat officials cast doubts on their being bona fide residents of Tami Nadu.
“Though we have voter ID, ration cards and have paid taxes to the village panchayat for three generations we do not know why the panchayat suddenly has doubts about the location of our houses. If we belonged to Andhra then why the panchayat collected tax from us all these years,” demands Arumugam, a local. The property tax is one document they need to apply for the Magalir Urimai Thogai.
Sources in the panchayat told this reporter that they could not provide the property tax receipt for online payment as the initial application needs the patta number, which most of the residents do not have. Though sources alleged that the DMK-ruled panchayat is denying them bills mainly to get ‘commission’ from them, the panchayat officials denied the charge. Annoyed at the way they were treated, the women staged a road blockade and impounded a government bus and refused to budge when revenue and development officials tried to pacify them.
When police intervened, the women shifted to the panchayat office where they staged a sit-in. Following this, the Vaniyambadi and Kuppam (AP) tahsildars visited the spot and held inquiries. They assured to look into the matter.
