For 40 years, UP ministers haven't paid own income tax; state govt pays for them
Lucknow, Sep 13: The existence of a four-decade-old law that makes the Uttar Pradesh government pay the income tax of all ministers has come as shocker to many, even though some political leaders say they never knew about it.
The Uttar Pradesh Ministers' Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Act, 1981 provides that the chief minister and his council of ministers don't dip into their own pockets to pay income tax.
The amount goes to the Income Tax authorities from the state exchequer - year and year.
"There is an act existing from 1981 during V P Singh's time. Whatever is being done is in pursuance with that Act, Uttar Pradesh Power Minister Shrikant Sharma said on Friday.
"In times to come, we will look into any suggestion about what best can be done in this regard," he added.
The law, enacted when Vishwanath Pratap Singh was the chief minister, has been in force during the terms of 19 CMs and about 1,000 ministers so far.
The chief ministers who saved on their taxes have been from across parties including Yogi Adityanath, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta, Rajnath Singh, Sripati Mishra, Vir Bahadur Singh and N D Tiwari.
For the last financial year, the state government paid Rs 86 lakh as the ministers' tax bill, a senior finance ministry official said.
A section of the Act says, "The salary referred to in sub-sections (1) and (2) shall be exclusive of the tax payable in respect of such salary (including perquisites) under any law relating to income tax for the time being in force, and such tax shall be borne by the state."
It was argued in 1981 that the state government should bear the income tax burden as most ministers were from poor backgrounds and had meagre incomes, a Congress leader and a colleague of the then chief minister V P Singh said.
But over the years, the state has been led by leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati who is worth Rs 111 crore as per her affidavit for the Rajya Sabha polls in 2012.
Another former chief minister, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, owns assets worth over Rs 37 crore together with his wife Dimple, according to the affidavit filed for the recent Lok Sabha polls.
According to the affidavit submitted for the Legislative Council elections in 2017, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's assets total Rs 95,98,053.
Senior Congress leader and former MP, P L Punia said the provision doesn't seem right and needs review.
"The salaries have gone up several times and there appears to be no relevance for this relaxation. It needs reconsideration and withdrawal," Punia, who was principal secretary to Mayawati when she was chief minister, said.
Many like BSP leader and former UP finance minister Lalji Verma said they were not aware of the law. Verma said as far he remembers he used to pay his own taxes.
An SP leader said he is not aware of any such relaxation for ministers and will be able to speak on it only after discussing it with senior party leaders.
The state's Law Minister Brijesh Pathak said he will be in a position to speak on the issue only after getting it verified from his officials.
Social activist Anil Kumar said the news is a shocker for the common man who pays large sums in taxes.
"Why should he bear the burden of those who have all the benefits. Like all of us, they should also pay for themselves instead of putting an extra burden on us," Kumar said.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
