The Aman Sandesh Times
Shimla : The Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu government of Himachal Pradesh is now preparing to collect toilet seat tax in the state. People will now have to pay tax based on the number of toilet seats they have in their homes. In fact, the state government, which is struggling with financial crisis, has recently issued a notification in this regard.
A government notification related to sewerage and water bills states that people living in urban areas will have to pay a fee of Rs 25 for each toilet seat built in their house. This additional fee will be transferred to the account of Jal Shakti Department along with the sewerage bill. The government notification states that the sewerage bill will be 30 percent of the water bill.
According to the notification, people who use water from their own sources and only use sewerage connections of government departments, will have to pay a monthly fee of Rs 25 per toilet seat. The department has issued orders to all divisional officials in this regard. Earlier water bills were not issued in the hill state.
The BJP government had announced that free water would be provided if it came to power. But the Sukhu government of Himachal Pradesh has now ordered to issue a water bill of Rs 100 per month on each connection. It has started from October. Those living in urban areas may have to bear the brunt of these new government charges.
This is because people usually have more than one toilet in their homes and now a fee will be charged on each toilet seat. Himachal Pradesh has a total of 5 Municipal Corporations, 29 Municipalities and 17 Nagar Panchayats, with a total population of around 10 lakhs. A large population of the state is likely to be affected by the government’s new order.